Borussia Dortmund are now favourites to sign Birmingham City midfielder Jude Bellingham, according to reports in Germany.

Manchester United, Chelsea and Bayern Munich are also said to be keen on signing the 16-year-old but it is believed that Dortmund very much have the edge in the negotiations at the moment.

The Bundesliga club have reportedly offered to pay only £12m upfront, which would be sizeably less than the £35m figure that has been bandied about by some in the English press over the past couple of months.

If Dortmund do confirm Bellingham’s capture, it would be the second young starlet that the German team have nabbed ahead of United, following the signing of Erling Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg in January.

Bellingham had even been given a tour of the Manchester club’s Carrington training complex as the Red Devils tried to persuade him to make the move to Old Trafford.