Rio Ferdinand has urged Manchester United to pick up the phone and set the wheels in motion for a move for Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham was at the heart of everything positive for Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League as he inspired them to a 4-1 victory away to Sevilla on Wednesday night.
The 19-year-old, who captained Dortmund in Seville, grabbed a goal and an assist in Spain as Dortmund kept Manchester City within touching distance at the top of Group G. Analysing his performance after the game, Ferdinand told BT Sport that Bellingham is currently ahead of where some of the greatest midfielders in the English game were at his age including former teammates Paul Scholes and Roy Keane.
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"We said it as soon as we saw it, what he's doing in his position, at his age, we haven't seen," Ferdinand explained. "The best of our generation, [Frank] Lampard, [Steven] Gerrard, [Paul] Scholes, [Patrick] Vieira, Roy Keane, those guys weren't doing this. I'm just saying that they weren't doing this. He's still got to go on and prove it and do it over a long period of time. But they weren't doing what he is doing right now. Influencing a game at this level, captaining a team at this level.
"He's the full package and mentally, this kid's a beast. No doubts about that. One thing you have to say about him, whoever gets him, one question that won't have to be answered is the temperament. When you're making big transfers, the temperament is the key thing you need to get right. This kid has already proved that his temperament is not even a question mark."
Tweeting a clip of the video to his followers, Ferdinand tagged United along with an emoji of a telephone in a bid to fix his former side's attention on the English sensation.
United have had a long-standing interest in Bellingham which dates back to 2020 when the club showed the then Birmingham City midfielder around Carrington. However, although interest still remains in the teenager, the Reds are resigned to the fact that they would need to be in the Champions League to stand a chance of luring him to Old Trafford.
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