Jude Bellingham has been described as a ‘disruptive factor’ within the Borussia Dortmund dressing room amid a ‘crisis’ at the Bundesliga club.
The midfielder is one of the hottest prospects in world football at present following a stellar period at the German giants, his form attracting the attentions of Europe’s biggest clubs.
The 19-year-old has shone since signing for Dortmund from Birmingham City in 2020 and has gone on to make 112 appearances for the club across all competitions. He has captained the German side on occasion this season and became just the fourth teenager to score in four consecutive Champions League games earlier in the campaign.
However, according to German publication Bild, Bellingham’s ‘derogatory body language’ on the pitch is annoying his team-mates, with the club said to be ‘in crisis’ after two straight defeats before the World Cup break has left them sixth in the Bundesliga.
The England international has attracted the attentions of a number of the Premier League’s ‘big six’ as well as Real Madrid, and the report says that his transfer situation is a ‘significant disruptive factor’ among his teammates.
Earlier this week Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke admitted the club would sit down to discuss the midfielder’s future following his involvement in the World Cup.
“We will hold talks now, as soon as [the World Cup in] Qatar is over, and then we’ll have a fundamental talk about what he would like,” Watzke said.
“He just needs to tell us if he’d like to stay or if he’d like to go. In both cases we’ll talk about it very pleasantly and reasonably together. In general we can imagine that he’d stay with us, but we can’t behave as if this topic wasn’t on the table.
“If he says ‘I’d like to do something else,’ then the really big [clubs] in Europe will be there and we can’t afford to fight financially.”
