Ancelotti downplays Bellingham influence

The Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has lauded the qualities of England’s Jude Bellingham but added that he’s happy to “stick” with the talented young midfielders already at the club.

Bellingham, 19, is expected to leave Borussia Dortmund in the summer with clubs such as Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid interested. Bellingham’s superb performances for England at the Qatar World Cup have only increased the level of interest in him. He began his career at Birmingham City.

“Bellingham showed at the World Cup that he is a great midfielder,” Ancelotti, 63, said. “A lot of youngsters stood out, like Enzo [Fernández, 21, of Benfica] with Argentina, and the Spaniards Pedri [20] and Gavi [18, both of Barcelona] had a very nice tournament.

 “There are a lot of young midfielders emerging but I’ll stick with mine. We have very good ones, [Aurélien] Tchouaméni, [Eduardo] Camavinga, [Federico] Valverde. We have a lot of youngsters.”

Real signed Camavinga, 20, from Rennes in 2021 and last year bought Tchouameni, 22, from Monaco. Valverde, 24, joined Madrid’s youth ranks from Penarol in 2016.

For years the club’s midfield has been based around Casemiro (30, now of Manchester United), Toni Kroos (33) and Luka Modric (37).

But Casemiro’s departure plus the expiration of Kroos and Modric’s contracts this summer mean there may be opportunities for other quality midfielders to find a regular place in their starting 11.