Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham is reportedly poised to reject a club-record deal of £230,000 a week from the German champions ahead of an expected move to Real Madrid.
Speculation surrounding the 19-year-old's future has dominated the talk of the transfer market in recent months amid links with a host of top-level European teams.
The likes of Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Manchester City were all believed to have been in the race, but Liverpool and Real Madrid were regarded as the two outright favourites.
Despite apparent positive conversations between Liverpool and Bellingham's father, the Reds baulked at Dortmund's £130m price tag, which BVB have shown no intention of relenting on.
As a result, Liverpool ended up withdrawing their interest in the 19-year-old to scope out cheaper alternatives, opening the door for Real Madrid to jump to the head of the queue.
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While nothing has been officially agreed yet, Real are now expected to wrap up a big-money deal for Bellingham in the summer transfer window, despite Dortmund boss Edin Terzic downplaying such reports.
The former Birmingham City youngster is still contracted to Dortmund until 2025, though, and the German giants will still try to tie him down to club-record terms, according to Bild.
The report adds that the Black and Yellows were willing to offer Bellingham €14m (£12.2m) per year to stay at Westfalenstadion until 2026, which equates to circa £230,000 per week.
However, Dortmund's renewal offer is expected to be rebuffed, as Bellingham is "almost certain" to make the move to the Santiago Bernabeu when the summer transfer window opens for business.
Los Blancos are said to be confident about their chances of tying Bellingham down to a six-year deal until 2029, and he will pocket a staggering €20m (£17.4m) in weekly wages.
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Real Madrid are yet to reach a full agreement over a fee with Dortmund, who are still believed to be holding out for a £130m bid, but Los Blancos expect to strike a deal in the coming weeks.
Bellingham will arrive at the Bernabeu to compete with Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Federico Valverde, Dani Ceballos, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric - the latter two of whom are expected to sign new deals imminently - for starts in Carlo Ancelotti's engine room.
The England international commanded a €25m (£21.8m) fee to leave Birmingham for Dortmund as a 16-year-old in 2020, and he has since recorded 23 goals and 25 assists in 131 matches for Terzic's side.
Bellingham has come up with 13 goals and seven assists from 41 games in another productive campaign this term, including a brace in Sunday's 6-0 Bundesliga thrashing of Wolfsburg.
That victory leaves Dortmund one point behind reigning champions Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table with three games remaining, and Bellingham will be expected to make his 30th top-flight start of the season in Saturday evening's showdown with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Ben Knapton
