Birmingham City’s Jude Bellingham has long been a wanted man, but it appears that Borussia Dortmund were supremely confident of keeping the 17-year-old from Man United’s clutches as long ago as February.
The teenager has set the English Championship alight for the Midlanders, and the Daily Star report that when the Red Devils first showed their hand, they even enlisted the help of Sir Alex Ferguson to help show Bellingham and his family around.
However, as The Athletic note, back in May the player offered the German outfit proof that he was going to become a Dortmund player by sending them a picture of him wearing their shirt after watching their win over Schalke on BT Sport.
The Daily Star go on to suggest it’s the career trajectories of players like Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland which help make up Bellingham’s mind.
The Athletic, cited by the Daily Star, also claim that the Bundesliga club believed they had secured him by February after he was sent shirts by them, had a video made which showed him playing in front of Dortmund’s famous ‘Yellow wall’ and was sent an invite for a tour of Signal Iduna Park and the club’s training ground.
It’s likely that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Man United will be desperately disappointed given how much they did to try and secure Bellingham’s services.
However, if the Red Devils make the Champions League, there’ll be plenty of good quality players available and willing to ply their trade at Old Trafford.