There is no stopping Manchester United from moving to sign 16-year-old Jude Bellingham despite the reports that Bundesliga's Borussia Dortmund secured a transfer deal with Birmingham City, said to be worth £30.5 million. The youngster first came to notice two years ago and the Red Devils have been watching him since so giving up too easy is not an option.
The signs are convincing enough that Bellingham is headed next to Germany and will skip Manchester for now. The teenage sensation has recently taken a trip that brought him to Dortmund's training facilities and reportedly, an offer was presented to him that is hard to refuse.
According to Bleacher Report, the pay package includes training compensation that could run to millions. It would be quite similar to the offer that Jadon Sancho got in 2018 when he moved out of Manchester City.
It is believed Bellingham will be rewarded with a relatively higher pay compared to Sancho's level two years ago, and pundits said it would be a worthwhile investment for BVB.
"If Borussia Dortmund sign Jude Bellingham, that would be a tremendous move, even for a fee of 35m. He is an incredibly talented winger now, but could easily end up in central midfield down the road if he continues to develop the way he did this past year," analyst Constantin Eckner was reported as saying.
The young midfielder caught the attention of elite clubs following a campaign that saw him starting in 24 matches so far and netting four goals. According to Metro, aside from Dortmund, Bellingham is under the close monitoring of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City.
Dortmund, however, is seen to enjoy an advantage over the pack thanks to the Sancho narrative, whose rise in Bundesliga gave credence to the belief that young English footballers hoping to make big should head to the German giants' camp.
Also, among these hopefuls that will do well have the assurance of making the Dortmund first-team, which likely is the strongest argument that won Bellingham over.
Still, the Red Devils are optimistic that the rising midfielder will stay in England. After all, Old Trafford boasts of an academy that produced the current leading figures in English football such as Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, Brandon Williams, Jesse Lingard, and Andreas Pereira.
These names are also part of the United first-team that hopefully will add Bellingham to the roster.
Birmingham City head coach Pep Clotet has previously stated that Bellingham is already complete even at 16 and can very well handle the physical requirement of playing midfield.
"He can go forward as well, he can defend, he is very complete," Clotet said.
