Birmingham City ‘looked favourably’ on Jude Bellingham joining Manchester United before the Premier League giants missed out to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2020, according to the Championship club’s sporting advisor.
In the space of just six months, Manchester United missed out on Erling Haaland, Moises Caicedo and Jude Bellingham.
Where would the Red Devils be, right now, had they succeeded in snapping up world football’s best centre-forward, the most expensive player in Premier League history, and an all-action, almost-goal-a-game midfielder Andres Manzano is convinced will ‘win the Ballon D’or’ sooner rather than later?
Manzano, a sporting advisor to the club where Bellingham made his name as a precocious 16-year-old, admits to Sport that Birmingham City were leaning towards selling their teen sensation to Manchester United three years ago. Only for Bellingham to opt for the more guaranteed first-team football on offer the Bundesliga.
Manchester United could have had Jude Bellingham
“(Bellingham) was of an exceptional level,” Manzano recalls. “I’ve seen (Lionel) Messi, Xavi and (Andres) Iniesta play, and this player is top-level.”
“From the club (Birmingham), I’m not going to deceive you, they looked favourably on him going to Manchester. Because, in the end, it is a (geographically) closer club. And you could have a series of exchanges,” Manzano adds, indicating that The Blues liked the idea of a collaborate relationship with a bonafide English giant.
“But he and the family decided that the best option was Borussia Dortmund. And I think he was right. I’m sure he’s going to win the Ballon d’Or.”
After blossoming into one of the most complete midfielders in world football at Dortmund – former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer rueing Man United’s inability to get a deal done even after Bellingham was given a guided tour around Carrington – the England international joined Real Madrid for a cool £88 million over the summer (Daily Mail).
With 12 goals and three assists in 15 appearances for club and country this term, Bellingham’s eye-watering price-tag is already looking like a bargain. If, of course, £88 million can ever be described as a ‘bargain’.
‘United had the chance to sign him’
“For his age and what he’s achieved, he’s better than anything we’ve seen,” United legend Paul Scholes tells TNT Sport.
“Obviously, United had the chance to sign him. But he chose a move to Dortmund, which looks the right move for him now looking back on it.
“Nothing fazes him. He looks like such a driven, determined lad and such a professional player. (He has) the temperament you need to succeed at the top level.”
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