Chelsea Want $62M Young Midfielder Who Snubbed Manchester United Last Summer: Report

Chelsea are reportedly planning to sign Borussia Dortmund's teenage sensation Jude Bellingham, who is also a target of Manchester United.

The Blues owner Roman Abramovich is keen to secure Bellingham if Chelsea fail to sign West Ham's Declan Rice, according to Eurosport’s Dean Jones.

Chelsea are looking to seal the deal before the 2021 summer transfer window ends on Aug. 31, according to the soccer website Teamtalk.

West Ham midfielder Rice has been linked with a move to Chelsea for a few months now. But the Stamford Bridge is not willing to match West Ham's asking price for the Englishman that is around $110 million, according to sports publication talkSport.

Hailing from Birmingham City, Bellingham is one of the most talented young players at present. He switched to Dortmund last summer and took little time to settle down in Germany. In the 2020-21 campaign, the English midfielder made 46 competitive appearances for Dortmund, scoring four goals and providing five assists.

He turned 18 in June and as a result, Dortmund offered Bellingham a long-term contract. The teenage sensation is now contracted with the Bundesliga side until 2025. His market value curve is on the rise at present and is currently around $62 million, according to Transfermarkt.

Dortmund now have two players who snubbed Manchester United to join the German side. After Erling Haaland did that in January 2020, a few months later, Bellingham did the same. The Red Devils tried to sign the youngster last summer but the teenage midfielder instead chose to move to Germany. It was earlier reported that apart from Manchester United and Chelsea, even Liverpool were monitoring Bellingham's situation at Dortmund.

Bellingham, who featured in Euros 2020 for England, became the youngest player in the history of the European Championship when he came off the bench in his side's opening game against Croatia, which The Three Lions’ won 1-0 at Webley, London.

It has also been reported that Manchester United could lose their superstar Paul Pogba, who could be offered a huge salary from Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The French club is looking to sign Pogba as a free agent in 2022 as the midfielder has entered the final year of his deal and is yet to sign an extension with the Red Devils.