After their disappointing exit from the champions league at the round of sixteen stages, which saw Chelsea overturn a 1-0 deficit in their favor makes everyone question the mentality of this Dortmund team under their faithful manager Mr. Edin Terzic. Being the only team undefeated in this calendar year, the performance from the players at Stamford Bridge came as a shock to everyone.

Though still sitting at joint top of the Bundesliga, the defeat against Chelsea has struck the yellow army with the fear that their team might lose momentum in the league thus, giving their arch rivals Bayern Munich an easy path to clinch their eleventh consecutive Bundesliga title. Even before their tie against Chelsea, the major story surrounding the club was the future of their sensational youngster Jude Bellingham. At just 19 years of age, Bellingham has already been showing traits of becoming a world class midfielder in the future. Some fans and said pundits have also begun comparing him with an elite list of midfielders like Xavi, Iniesta, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes etc.

His impressive performances through the Fifa World Cup 2022 and his world class leadership skills in helping Dortmund to compete for the Bundesliga title after a long time has only accelerated the speculation of him leaving the club this summer. Any club in the world would love to have a player like Jude Bellingham in their squad but, the three clubs as reported who are better positioned to capture the signature of the 19 year old include the defending premier league champions Manchester City FC, the defending Champions League Winners Real Madrid FC and the current FA Cup holders Liverpool FC.

With Manchester City all prepared for the departure of their star midfielder Bernardo Silva, it has been reported that the club will be highly active during the summer transfer window to rejuvenize their midfield and defense. And if City fail to extend their veteran midfielder Gundogan's contract, then the probability that Pep Guardiola will be looking to add Bellingham to his squad is quite high.

As for Real Madrid, the additions of Aurelin Tchouamini and Eduardo Camavinga do not seem enough, as the Los Blancos seem to be struggling domestically and with the likes of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos reaching the twilight of their careers, the club will look to energize its midfield by the addition of someone like Bellingham. As per reports, talks seem to have been placed between the two clubs as Bellingham's father was captured having a meeting with the directors of Real Madrid in London on Tuesday.

The first club to make Jude Bellingham as their top priority signing in the summer has been Liverpool. Although, the club owners ensured that they have a separate budget lined up for signing the 19 year old, this would mean nothing if Liverpool fail to secure a champions league place next season. But if they do, there are very high chances that next season we can see Bellingham play in behind the likes of Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez. The main reason for that being the player's excitement to work under former Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp.

There also have been rumors that if Dortmund are successful to extend Bellingham's contract for one more year or if any of the clubs above fail to sign him this summer, the player will then be associated with a release clause fee less than the player's true value which only would attract and lure more clubs towards signing him.