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 former Borussia Dortmund starlet also attended the house's men's spring-summer 2024 fashion show in the French capital in June alongside his younger brother Jobe after taking part in the first batch of England's Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and Macedonia.
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.
The Man City man's seven-figure contract with the Italian house was signed in 2022 saw him join national team-mate Marcus Rashford - who is an ambassador for Burberry after signing a philanthropic partnership with the English brand - in expanding his brand into luxury fashion.
Erling Haaland is another of Pep Guardiola's Treble-winners to have branched into fashion partnerships, inking a deal with Italian clothiers Dolce and Gabbana that was launched by his attendance at their Alta Moda fashion show in Puglia over the summer.
Bellingham's pending endorsement deal is just the latest reward of the young talent's meteoric start to life at Real Madrid, which has seen the player secure LaLiga Player of the Month awards in August and October, and score 13 goals in 14 games.
Last month, Bellingham picked up the Kopa Trophy for most talented player under 21 at this year's Ballon d'Or ceremony, and in November, received the 2023 Golden Boy award.
After the international break, the midfielder will be hopeful of returning to match action after being sidelined with extended recovery from a dislocated shoulder.
Bellingham was called up by Gareth Southgate for England, but forced to return to Madrid to continue building back his fitness ahead of post-international ties against Cadiz on Sunday, and Napoli in the Champions League midweek.