Amidst the Bruno Fernandes hysteria, Manchester United have been quietly linked to another midfielder, 16-year-old Jude Bellingham. United have placed a £30m bid for the 16-year-old, according to Sky Sports. This rumor seems to have legs.
My immediate initial reaction… Who?
The lad doesn’t appear in FIFA 20, so don’t go looking for a player rating.
Jude Bellingham, 16-years-old, has made 25 appearances this season for the Championship Side Birmingham City as a box-to-box midfielder. In those appearances, he has netted 4 goals and provided an assist in 1502 minutes played.
Bellingham has also appeared in 3 International Friendlies for England’s U-17 side during the Syrenka Cup last year, serving as Captain and scoring twice.
The lad picked up the Player of the Tournament Award.
Born in Stourbridge, England, Bellingham fits the “young English talent” bill for Ole’s rebuild. But United are not the only one’s interested…
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool are all monitoring the Birmingham talent.
Birmingham manager, Pep Clotet, is well aware of the interest in Bellingham, “He has been watched since he was 13 or 14. For the Middlesbrough game, half of Europe was here. He is used to it. Jude is very focused on his job and I have never seen him distracted.”
Any deal with Birmingham is rumored to require a loan that would keep Bellingham at St. Andrew’s for around 18 months, similar to Real Madrid’s signings of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, which delayed the Brazilians from joining the Spanish giants immediately after their respective deals.
What seems to be holding up the deal is Bellingham’s own reluctance to join a U23 side and to continue his development in the first team of a Championship side.
“I do have the feeling Jude will stay,” Clotet added. “He is very happy here and he knows it’s one of the right steps for his progression.”
While not the instant impact signing the squad is so desperate for, the player oozes class and will likely get better and better as he matures.
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