Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid are only focused on one thing – Club World Cup glory.
As such, Barcelona missing out on the signing of Nico Williams hasn’t registered on his radar.
The Spanish winger is one of the most wanted players this summer having drawn interest from Barca, Bayern Munich and Arsenal.
Impressing with Athletic Bilbao, the 22-year-old is already an elite-level talent helping his nation to win Euro 2024, along with Lamine Yamal.
And Barcelona had hoped to get them playing together on opposite flanks at the Camp Nou.
Personal terms had reportedly been verbally agreed, but it appears the Catalan giants’ struggles with registering players went against them at the last.
Barcelona’s refusal to put in an exit clause in the deal should they have failed to register him saw the player withdraw.
Arsenal’s new sporting director Andrea Berta is also believed to have held talks with his representatives.
But Williams has now penned a new 10-year contract extension in Bilbao, seemingly ending any transfer hopes of those trailing him.
Which reportedly also included Bellingham’s Real Madrid.
“The most important thing is to listen to your heart,” Williams said when announcing the deal. “I am where I want to be, with my people, this is my home.”
Bellingham, though, was brutally honest with his take on the update.
“I don’t care,” he replied when asked for his reaction to the transfer.
“It’s something that doesn’t affect Real Madrid. So, what’s happening with Nico doesn’t matter to me. It’s not Real Madrid news.”
Bellingham was speaking ahead of their Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund.
A victory puts them in the semi-finals and winning the whole competition could see each Real Madrid player win a record-breaking €1million bonus.
But Bellingham insisted his focus was solely on his former club Dortmund.
“They’ll be a very tough opponent,” he said. “They have important players who can decide the match, and we have to be alert from the start.”
His brother Jobe, one of Dortmund’s newest signings, won’t be able to face him in the clash.
That’s due to a suspension after Jobe was booked in their last match.
And Jude admitted his brother hadn’t realised the situation going into the previous game.
“He told me after that nobody had told him, and he wasn’t sure,” he said.
“But yeah, it’s a common theme with both of us, I think, with yellow cards and suspensions. It’s just one of those things.
“It would have been lovely for me and my family, for both of us, something that we’ve obviously dreamed of, but I’m sure it will come around again.
“That’s part of football, so we have to accept it.”
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