Birmingham starlet Jude Bellingham has reportedly decided to join Borussia Dortmund over Manchester United.
Bellingham has attracted plenty of attention from several major European clubs after a stellar debut season in the Championship.
The teenager, who turns 17 at the end of June, has made 32 appearances for the Blues in the English second tier, scoring four goals and providing two assists as well as averaging 1.2 shots per game and making 2.3 tackles on average (WhoScored).
He has previously been described as a “young Steven Gerrard” by pundit Jermaine Pennant, amid interest from United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Dortmund.
The Red Devils have been pulling out all the stops to try and lure the youngster to Old Trafford, including inviting the Englishman to Carrington with his parents, where they were given a tour of the training ground by Sir Alex Ferguson and Ed Woodward (talkSPORT).
However, Christian Falk has now revealed he has chosen a move to the Bundesliga instead.
Speaking exclusively to @utdreport, Sport Bild’s head of football said “the strong clubs in the Bundesliga, behind Bayern, offer talented English players a chance to play, even internationally. Bellingham will therefore also go to Dortmund, not United. You will see. Our information is that he has chosen Borussia Dortmund.”
The Birmingham City whizzkid will follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Jadon Sancho, who has excelled during his time at the Signal Iduna Park.
This will likely be a major blow for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as the Norwegian has made it clear he is targeting a new centre midfielder in a summer transfer overhaul.
Unsurprisingly, many United fans slammed Bellingham’s “pathetic” transfer update on social media, with one supporter unfairly tweeting he is “overhyped,” while another bizarrely added he is “overrated,” – sour grapes, perhaps, given the news suggests he has rejected their advances to move elsewhere.
Scroll through some of the scathing reactions so far…
https://twitter.com/UtdApollo/status/1271139837266014209?s=20
Pathetic
— David Stewart (@dredno1) June 11, 2020
Ngl this this is disappointing if it’s true but I can see why. The past 7 years could make almost any young player want to avoid us.
— Rhys (@RhysOnFootball) June 11, 2020
We bought in Cantona and Sir Alex to take him for a spin around Carrington… Just for him to do this pic.twitter.com/zIa1dPaT5j
— 🐝 (@UtdJoan) June 11, 2020
Overrated
— Ari Nandi (@AriNandi3) June 11, 2020
Would have been ideal to buy him then loan him to Dortmund as part of Sancho deal. But there you go 🤦🏽♂️
— Billy Daly (@BillyDaly1) June 11, 2020
Another Martin Odegaard/Renato Sanches type deal. He’s getting so overhyped.
— WilliamOsborne (@Willl_Osborne) June 11, 2020
United fans, are you gutted that Ed Woodward has missed out on Jude Bellingham? Let us know down below!
