Every club in Europe wants Jude Bellingham, including Manchester United. However, it is unlikely that they will be able to sign the Borussia Dortmund midfielder given that their competition includes Real Madrid, Manchester City and Liverpool.
Bellingham is only growing his reputation while on international duty with England. He was one of the side's top performers in their 6-2 win against Iran, scoring the opening goal with a header.
He has continued this good form into the knockout stages, registering an assist and an outstanding performance against Senegal in the Round of 16. His contribution to England's second was especially noted, as the teenager burst through the opposition midfield to create the move that led to Harry Kane's goal.
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But it all could have been different. United wanted to sign Bellingham while he was still at Birmingham and pulled out all the stops before he eventually decided to move to Germany to guarantee regular game time.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted him to be the future of United's midfield and was willing to pay Birmingham's asking price of £27m despite the midfielder only being 17-years-old at the time. It seems that despite the Norwegian's transfers being called into question, his eye was correct when it came to the youngster.
That wasn't the only way which United tried to convince the player to make the move to Manchester. The club arranged for Bellingham to have a tour of Carrington with his family.
They also arranged for him to meet with Sir Alex Ferguson hoping that the legendary former United manager would be able to persuade him to commit his long-term future to the club. However, it was not successful.
Now Bellingham is probably the hottest prospect in football showing week in and week out for Dortmund but also on the World stage for England why Solskjaer wanted to sign the midfielder. The issue now is unless he wants a challenge and is willing to be part of a long-term project, he is unlikely to move to United while his stock is high.
It'll likely be considered one of the greatest what-ifs of United's recent history, but hopefully when the next Jude Bellingham comes along, United will be in a good position to sign him and in the meantime they better hope the current one doesn't move to another club in the Premier League.
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