When Jude Bellingham heads to the Premier League this summer - that's where Real Madrid are starting to fear he'll end up - he could do so having already won a league title.

If Borussia Dortmund win Europe's game of the weekend against Bayern Munich on Saturday evening, and ruin Thomas Tuchel's debut in the process, they'll be four points clear with eight games left.

It sounds easy when you say it quickly but the arrival of the former Chelsea manager at Bayern makes Dortmund's visit to the Allianz Arena that bit more daunting.

They have had to go on an incredible run to reach the summit taking 28 points from a possible 30 since the World Cup. But their surge provoked Bayern to sack Julian Nagelsmann last week.

'We had to react,' said Bayern's Sporting Director Hasan Salihamidzic. And when asked about the new man's famed intensity he added: 'We let Julian be Julian, now we will let Thomas Tuchel be Thomas Tuchel.'

Jude Bellingham could leave Borussia Dortmund this summer having guided them to the title

Not all the players at Bayern like the sound of that. 'He had not lost the dressing room,' said Joshua Kimmich of Nagelsmann. And Leon Goretzka also defended the out-going coach. 

Dortmund will hope that division takes something away from a Tuchel-sized new-manager bounce. They travel to the Allianz Arena not having beaten Bayern since 2014. 

They need to channel some Jurgen Klopp circa 2011, 2012 energy - when they won the Bundesliga under him two years running, they won this fixture both seasons.

The incentive is huge because a four-point game over a Bayern team preoccupied by a Champions League quarter-final with Manchester City might be enough to see them over the line.

'We are not playing Tuchel,' said Dortmund's Sporting Director Sebastian Kehl, also pointing out that Bayern's new coach only had two days with the full squad because of the international break.

If Bellingham does win the Bundesliga this season he will become the youngest Englishman to win one of Europe's major leagues.

Owen Hargreaves had already turned 20 when he won it with Bayern in 2001. Bellingham will not be 20 until June.

Laurie Cunningham was 24 in 1980 when he won La Liga with Real Madrid. Jimmy Greaves was 22 and had already left Milan and headed back to London when he won a Serie A medal in 1962. Fikayo Tomori was 23 last year when he won Serie A with Milan. Most English players abroad have gone at their peak or even at the end of their careers.

It will further vindicate his bold move from Birmingham and be the perfect way to sign off.

Can we be sure he'll head to England and not Spain?

The Spanish club have been making plenty of noises about how his transfer fee could rise as high as 140m euros - a price that would leave them unable to then compete, in terms of wages, with premier League clubs Manchester City and Liverpool.

Is this them getting their excuses in early to supporters who were told to expect Kylian Mbappe last season? Certainly if the England midfielder ends up at the Santiago Bernabeu, it will be because he has turned down more money elsewhere.

Bayern want Nagelsmann to move on quickly

Clearly there was never a dull moment during Nagelsmann's time at Bayern. A favourite story doing the rounds comes from April 2022, when after one lacklustre display he told his players: 'We're not with the volunteer fire brigade in South Giesing; this is FC Bayern Munich!'.

It wasn't long before the name-checked fire brigade replied via video message: 'We don't only put out fires when we feel up for it you know!'

Nagelsmann apologised to all volunteer firefighters and visited a Munich fire station.

Bayern will be happy once the Tottenham-fancied coach is back in work. They will have to keep paying his 10m euros salary until his contract ends in 2026 if not.

Napoli tie down star man Kvaratskhelia 

Napoli's Khvicha Kvaratskhelia agreed to extend his contract by one year to 2027 this week. The 'Georgian Maradona' ought now to stay in Italy at least another season and he should be back in the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium on Sunday night for the visit of Milan when the current champions face the champions-in-waiting.

Napoli's 19-point lead at the top means it's not exactly a title decider, but it is a precursor to the two teams' Champions League quarter-final, and a test for England's Fikayo Tomori up against a forward line that has scored 20 goals more than Milan so far this season.

It could make for a good weekend for Jose Mourinho. Roma will be in the Champions League positions if they beat Sampdoria, and Napoli do get the win over Milan.

Nou Camp switch inevitable for Barcelona 

After a seven-hour board meeting on Thursday Barcelona confirmed that the demolition of the Nou Camp will go-ahead this June, as they make the temporary move to the city's 49,000-capacity Olympic Stadium.

The 94m euros losses from the switch had made them ponder the idea of staying put for another year but they have opted not to delay the inevitable.

The 105,000-seater newly developed Nou Camp with all its commercial add-ons will bring in an estimated 350m euros doubling the current stadium's annual revenue.

What they were not able to do after that marathon meeting, but hoped to confirm before close of play Friday, were the finalized details of the funding. The plan has long been to borrow 1.5bn euros and pay it back over a period of around 35 years.

The problem is that the threat of Barcelona not playing in the Champions League if UEFA ban them because of the investigation over payments to a refereeing boss, has made it more difficult for investment banks JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs to recruit partners not perturbed by the uncertainty.

Once the deals are signed this will be another step into even deeper waters of debt for Barcelona.

The new stadium is obligatory. Taking on new debt to pay for it, is obligatory.

And if Barcelona can't make the repayments then giving up its special status as a member-owned sports club and becoming a corporation with a private owner, will also be obligatory.