JUDE BELLINGHAM snubbed a move to Manchester United, even though they offered TWICE as much as other suitors AND introduced him to Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona.
According to ex-Birmingham CEO Dong Ren, United’s now-former chief Ed Woodward went all out to land Bellingham in 2020 from St Andrew’s.
The Red Devils offered the prodigious talent, then just 17, a salary around two times larger than other bidders, who included Chelsea, Leicester, Wolves, Bayern Munich.
But the England international opted for Borussia Dortmund where he has flourished in the last two years, with a 112 appearances already under his belt.
Ren told Mundo Deportivo: “United made the biggest offer we received compared to Bayern, Dortmund, Leicester or other clubs like Wolves.
“Ed Woodward was the most insistent. We sat down and talked about how we could convince Bellingham. But Jude didn’t make any decisions based on money.
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“They offered much more salary compared to the rest. Maybe double.
“He was going to have guaranteed millions in the bank and he did not take them. That’s not normal for a player at all.”
United even tried to lure Bellingham to Old Trafford by setting up a meeting with then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Manchester giants also introduced him to club icons like legendary boss Ferguson and Eric Cantona, who advised him to put pen to paper.
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Ren added: “He sat down with Solskjaer, until Woodward brought Ferguson that day, another day to Cantona, to try to convince him.
“He chose Dortmund over Bayern despite not being sure to win titles and money. He put all that behind his development. How many players would do that?
“Because nothing is guaranteed at Dortmund. It might not have turned out well.”
Bellingham, now 20, is still being chased by some of Europe’s highest bidders with Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester City all ready to play £100m-plus for him.
SunSport revealed last week that City believe the chance to work with Pep Guardiola could swing the Dortmund star’s decision in their favour.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
