Chelsea give Man City and Man United Jude Bellingham transfer boost amid Borussia Dortmund exit

As former Chelsea player Joe Cole put it during BT Sport's coverage of Tuesday's Champions League match, "it’s going to be a great summer" for Jude Bellingham.

The west London club overcame a one-goal first leg deficit to complete a comeback and advance to the quarter-finals at the expense of Borussia Dortmund and their talented teenager. Bellingham played every minute of the last 16 tie but could not prevent another relatively early exit from Europe.

A 98th-minute yellow card received for a late lunge on England international teammate Reece James, whom the 19-year-old was apologetic to in the aftermath, encapsulated the frustration of the night for him. Since favouring Dortmund over Manchester United when signing from Birmingham City in the summer of 2020, the German giants have won just a single knockout round tie.

READ MORE: Dortmund chief provides Bellingham update amid City and United links

That lone win came when an Erling Haaland-led team edged past Sevilla in the round of 16 thanks to the now Manchester City player scoring four goals across the tie to progress 5-4 on aggregate. As their reward, it was City themselves who were waiting in the last eight.

Bellingham would score the opening goal of the second leg, which levelled the tie on the night at the Westfalenstadion following a 2-1 win in Manchester eight days prior. Parity would remain for 40 minutes on either side of half-time before a Riyad Mahrez penalty, followed by a fourth from Phil Foden, ensured it would be Pep Guardiola's side in the semi-finals rather than interim head coach Edin Terzić's team.

Under nine months after playing Championship football, this represented a meteoric rise by anyone's standards. But, instead of a positive first step, that