Real Madrid move for Jude Bellingham has made Manchester United's transfer window easier

It's good to dream, to have ambition, but sometimes you just have to accept the cold hard reality. The sooner the better.

Manchester United have big dreams in the upcoming transfer window. It's set to be yet another exciting and expensive summer as Erik ten Hag strengthens his squad to take them to the next level. But one of those pipe dreams, which was very unlikely to begin with, looks to have ended with a bucket of cold water.

The future of Jude Bellingham looked set to be the transfer saga of the summer as most of Europe's heavyweight clubs duked it out for the signature of the game's most talented teenager. But it might be all over before it has even begun.

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If reports are to be believed, Real Madrid have made headway in negotiations and are close to reaching an agreement on personal terms with Bellingham, although Dortmund are yet to receive an offer for him. It's added that Los Blancos hope to finalise the deal by the end of the month to avoid any competition, just as they did with the signing of Aurelien Tchouameni last year.

Though Madrid have dropped the ball from commanding positions previously, somehow not signing Kylian Mbappe when it looked a certainty being the most pertinent recent example, and a fee with Dortmund is yet to be reached, it appears that Bellingham is edging towards La Liga rather than the Premier League.

Madrid were always among the two favourite clubs to land the England star, with the allure of playing for the kings of the Champions League often hard for players to resist. But in this case, it is a bit surprising that Manchester City have seemingly been beaten to the punch. A lot of factors - working with Pep Guardiola, returning to