Jude Bellingham turned down an offer from Manchester United in favour of Borussia Dortmund in 2020 despite the Reds offering a greater financial package than any other suitor.
The Reds offered Bellingham twice as much as other clubs were offering with Ed Woodward extremely keen bringing him to Old Trafford. Bellingham also met with former Chelsea director of football Marina Granovskai and then-manager Frank Lampard but wasn’t convinced.
Bayern Munich tried to snatch Bellingham from Dortmund’s grasp at the last minute with an improved offer with bags of bonuses attached. Leicester, Wolves and other Premier League also tried to make a move.
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However, their efforts were in vain as he penned a long-term deal with Dortmund and Birmingham announced the number 22 jersey would be retired in his name.
Ex-Blues CEO Dong Ren has recalled how United made a concerted effort to lure Bellingham, then 16, to Old Trafford but his main focus was on his career development rather than any kind of money.
"United made the biggest offer we received compared to Bayern, Dortmund, Leicester or other clubs like Wolves,” he told Mundo Deportivo. "Ed Woodward [then United CEO] 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.
“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."
Ren detailed how United had set up meetings with several club greats in an attempt to dazzle the youngster to no avail, and he instead chose Dortmund despite the lure of Bayern. He continued: “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.”
Speaking further about his discussions with Bellingham, Ren added: "At the end of the day we were the team that had the player. I could only act as CEO of Birmingham.
“I could tell him Jude, Manchester United offers you three times what we have, you have to go. And it was a difficult position, because I wanted to respect his decision.
“At the time, he could have gone for free and we didn't see any money. And our promise was that we would let them make the decision because of the loyalty they showed us."
He added: “Before the last three games of the season he had decided on Dortmund. They told us they wanted to go as a player and as a family.”
Bellingham, now vice-captain at Dortmund, starred for England at the World Cup, scoring the country’s opening goal of the tournament against Iran. He is expected to move from his club in the summer with nearly all of Europe’s top clubs after the 19-year-old.
The Manchester Evening News understands that United are open to making a bid for Bellingham, with Erik ten Hag a big fan. The teenager visited the club with his parents in March 2020 where he met several of the United staff.
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