Former Man Utd defender Rio Ferdinand believes Borussia Dortmund starlet Jude Bellingham should have Real Madrid at the “top of his list” ahead of a potential transfer this summer.

Bellingham is expected to leave Dortmund at the end of the season and pretty much every top European club is interested in signing him.

The 19-year-old joined the German outfit from his boyhood club, Birmingham City, in July 2020 for around £20million.

Dortmund stand to make a colossal profit on the England international. The Athletic reported on Thursday that he is expected to cost around €150m (£132m).

Real Madrid, Liverpool and Man City are believed to be leading the race to sign Bellingham at this moment in time, though Man Utd should not be ruled out.

The Reds were previously the favourites, however, their woeful 2022-23 campaign has provided an unexpected boost to City and Madrid.

Jurgen Klopp is in dire need of a whole new midfield with Jordan Henderson past his best, Fabinho struggling, and Thiago injured far too often.

Bellingham has the ability to transform Liverpool’s fortunes, but Klopp needs a lot more than just one excellent midfielder.

Sofyan Amrabat could be an excellent signing and someone who could play in place of Fabinho, or perhaps give the Brazilian the kick up the backside he clearly needs. A box-to-box midfielder like Alexis Mac Allister could also be a superb acquisition.

Bellingham’s future is very uncertain – he could stay at Dortmund for all we know – but Man Utd legend Ferdinand does not think Liverpool is the best place for him.

Given Liverpool’s poor form this season, Ferdinand does not believe the Reds will be on Bellingham’s “radar” at this moment in time and has backed the England teenager to join European champions Real Madrid.

Ferdinand told BT Sport: “I think Jude Bellingham’s intelligent enough not to look at one game in isolation, he’ll be looking at the bigger picture. ‘What do the next 12 months look like at Liverpool? What kind of impact can I have at Liverpool?’

“I think if we said a year ago, or six months ago, I don’t think Jude Bellingham even questions Liverpool’s trajectory or where they’re going, because they were in a different place.

“At the moment, I don’t think Liverpool are going to be on his radar and that will be very disappointing for Liverpool fans. I think the clubs in transition at the moment, the clubs in the process of being sold or [are] up for sale, or whatever that looks like.

“The more important thing is that the team doesn’t seem to be functioning in the right way, and there’s a transition in terms of players in the team. There’s some old players there that are going to need to be shifted and moved on, and some young players brought in.

“Does he come into that? Or does he go into a team that looks like they’re going to win right now? Real Madrid have to be top of the list at the moment.”

Bellingham has an impressive four goals and one assist in six Champions League matches this season and will be hoping to lead Dortmund through to the last eight of the competition when they take a 1-0 aggregate lead to Chelsea on March 7.

READ MORE: Klopp can’t fix Liverpool – but he can rebuild them. And there’s no shame in losing to Real Madrid

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