Rio Ferdinand shares reason why Jude Bellingham rejected Man Utd

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·2 November 2023

Rio Ferdinand shares reason why Jude Bellingham rejected Man Utd

Highlights

Jude Bellingham's rapid rise from Birmingham City to Real Madrid has made him one of the world's best players at just 20 years old.
Manchester United offered Bellingham double the salary compared to other clubs, including a meeting with legends like Sir Alex Ferguson, but he declined their offer. Rio Ferdinand has now revealed why.
Bellingham's decision has proved to be a good one, as he is now smashing it in La Liga.

Jude Bellingham has quickly emerged into one of the world's best players. The Englishman, just 20 years old, was playing for Birmingham City in the Championship just three-and-a-half years ago. He has progressed at a rapid pace over the past few years and has enjoyed a remarkable start to the season with Real Madrid.

Signed for an initial fee of £88.5m this summer, Bellingham has hit the ground running in Spain, scoring 13 times in his opening 13 matches. He's been so good, in fact, that he's one of the early frontrunners for the 2024 Ballon d'Or.

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Manchester United wanted to sign Jude Bellingham in 2020

When Bellingham was still at Birmingham, he was attracting interest from many of Europe's top clubs. One club that were very keen on signing the Stourbridge-born midfielder was Premier League giants, Manchester United.

According to former Birmingham City CEO Xuandong Ren, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Eric Cantona were among the United legends that spoke to Bellingham in an attempt to persuade him to join. They also offered him far more money compared to the other clubs in contention for his signature.

Ren said in 2022, per the Daily Mail: "Manchester United offered twice as much as the rest of the clubs, they even brought him together with Ferguson, Cantona and Solskjaer to convince him. But Jude did not make any decision based on money. “They were offering much more salary compared to the rest. Maybe double. He was going to be guaranteed millions in the bank and he didn’t take it. That’s not normal for a player at all."

Rio Ferdinand reveals reason why Jude Bellingham rejected Manchester United

In the end, Bellingham decided to decline United's offer and join Dortmund in a deal worth an initial £25 million. Rio Ferdinand has now revealed the reason for him doing so on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.

Ferdinand's co-presenter, Stephen Howson, said: "When Bellingham came to Carrington, we rolled Fergie (Sir Alex Ferguson) out for him. We knew then. Ultimately he ended up going to Dortmund. I would love to know the inside scoop."

Ferdinand then replied: "Do you know what I heard it was, he wanted some assurances about being a first-team player. And United weren’t willing to give him those assurances, that’s what I heard from a very good source. "He wasn’t given assurances of being around the first team and he’s said, ‘Do you know what, I know my worth, I know my value and if you don’t value me the way I see myself I’m going to have to jog on and go to another club’." "He's gone [to another club] and done that and he's turned around and said, 'I told you guys, you didn't believe me did you?' Then he's gone to Real Madrid and he's tearing down Real Madrid, he's tearing down the Bernabeu, they've just rebuilt it and he's tearing it down - unbelievable!"

It turned out to be a good choice by Bellingham. After three highly successful seasons at Dortmund, he made the move to Real Madrid and is now shining in La Liga. Had Bellingham followed the money and joined United, maybe he would not be the player he is today.

United will no doubt regret not giving Bellingham first-team assurances back in 2020. They could do with him in their midfielder now, that's for sure.