Jude Bellingham has reportedly been offered a 150% pay rise to extend his contract at Borussia Dortmund.
The 19-year-old is one of the most-sought after midfielders in Europe ahead of the summer transfer window, with Premier League quartet Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea all keen to lure him back the England.
Real Madrid have also been credited with an interest, although a recent report claims that the Spanish giants have now pulled out of the race for his signature.
Man City appear to be at the front of the queue for Bellingham at present, with one report stating that they are growing increasingly confident of signing the midfielder this summer.
However, Dortmund are desperate to keep hold of their star player for at least another season and are believed to be looking to tie him down to a bumper new contract.
According to Bild, Dortmund have a 'secret plan' in place to keep Bellingham at the club and will offer the youngster a 150% salary increase worth up to £13m per year.
The report adds that Bellingham would become the highest-paid player in Dortmund's history should he agree to commit his future to the club, and his proposed new contract would include a £131m release clause.
Last month, BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl insisted that they intend to keep hold of Bellingham for "as long as possible", although he has admitted that it could be "wishful thinking."
"Of course we're trying to keep Jude Bellingham at Borussia Dortmund as long as possible," Kehl told Ruhr Nachrichten. "He's an incredibly important player who has shown once again this season how he identifies with this club and makes the team better.
"Things develop due to market mechanisms. So of course, I have my thoughts and also have my wishful thinking. I can't say whether [Bellingham staying] will happen in the end.
"From Borussia Dortmund's point of view, the wishful thinking would be to keep a player of this quality at this club for as long as possible."
In a separate interview with AS, Kehl reiterated that Bellingham is 'very happy' at the German club, telling reporters: "Jude feels very, very comfortable at Borussia Dortmund. But we still haven't had any new talks or received any offers for him. He still has two more years on his contract and is a very important piece of this team.
"We need Jude to achieve the objectives this season and we are glad that he is so focused on football and that there is no room for other matters in his head at the moment."
Since joining from boyhood club Birmingham City in 2020, Bellingham has established himself as a star player at Dortmund, scoring 20 goals and registering 24 assists in 124 appearances across all competitions.
The Englishman is hoping to end the current campaign with Bundesliga silverware as Dortmund currently sit at the top of the table, just one point above holders Bayern Munich, who they face at the Allianz Arena on Saturday. body check tags ::
