AHEAD OF THE GAME: Jude Bellingham is being targeted by fashion giants, tickets for England’s friendly with Brazil sell out within A DAY and Man City missed a trick in the deal to sell Cole Palmer to Chelsea
- Jude Bellingham is increasingly showing signs of joining football’s elite names
- England will take on Brazil in a rare friendly encounter Wembley in March 2024
- It’s All Kicking Off: Jack Grealish has lost his zip… we need him to get it back
Jude Bellingham is wanted by Louis Vuitton for a multi-million-pound endorsement deal in the latest sign that the England midfielder has reached the ranks of the sporting megastars.
The luxury French fashion house only work with sporting icons — they ran an advertising campaign with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo before last year’s World Cup, following a campaign featuring Pele, Diego Maradona and Zinedine Zidane ahead of the 2010 tournament — and are now targeting the 20-year-old from Stourbridge.
Bellingham has a keen interest in fashion and wore a Louis Vuitton suit with flared trousers to the Ballon d’Or awards in Paris last month.
The Real Madrid star has yet to sign any personal endorsement deals other than his boot contract with adidas, although he did take part in a photoshoot for Gucci last year as part of their collaboration with the German sportswear company.
Gucci would also like to work with Bellingham again, but have already signed up his England team-mate Jack Grealish on a deal worth more than £1million.
Jude Bellingham is being targeted by fashion giants Louis Vuitton for a million-pound endorsement deal
It is the latest sign that the English wonderkid is set to join the status of the game’s elite stars
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THREE LIONS BREAK WEMBLEY RECORD
England’s footballers set a record for ticket sales when their friendly against Brazil in March sold out in less than a day, without being placed on general sale.
All the tickets were snapped up by members of the My England Football supporters club within eight hours of being released, the first time since the rebuilt Wembley was opened in 2007 that the FA have not made England tickets available to the public.
Coincidentally, two extra Wembley dates for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour next summer also sold out within hours.
CITY MISS A TRICK IN PALMER TRANSFER
Chelsea will reap all the financial rewards from Cole Palmer’s soaring transfer value as Manchester City did not secure a sell-on clause when agreeing the winger’s £42.5million move to Stamford Bridge in the summer.
City have secured tens of millions of pounds in sell-on payments in recent years from transfers involving former players including Jadon Sancho, Pedro Porro and Romeo Lavia, leaving Chelsea pleasantly surprised that they did not insist on a similar clause relating to Palmer.
City regarded a £40m guaranteed payment from Chelsea as a good deal, given Palmer had only made three Premier League starts before moving to Stamford Bridge.
But the 21-year-old has already made the fee look like a bargain by cementing a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s starting line-up and making his England debut against Malta last week.
Cole Palmer’s impressive form for Chelsea has seen him break into the England team of late
Manchester City failed to negotiate a sell-on fee in the £42.5m deal to sell him to Chelsea this summer
BARNSLEY’S OVERSIGHT RAISES EYEBROWS
Barnsley’s failure to request a personal hearing after being charged with fielding an ineligible player in their FA Cup first-round replay against Horsham this month raised eyebrows at the FA.
The League One club simply admitted the charge in a written response without taking the opportunity to defend themselves in person, and were kicked out of the competition as a result.
Horsham will now face Sutton United in the second round a week on Saturday.
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
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