Manchester United In Pole Position To Sign Jude Bellingham

Manchester United seem to have gained an upper hand to sign Borussia Dortmund star Jude Bellingham ahead of Real Madrid and Liverpool.

Dortmund have released a statement that they are willing to let Bellingham go for just £83 million – the player who has been valued at upwards of £100m, but only if the interested club pay the amount in one lump sum.

Real Madrid already have Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni in their ranks and shelling out on Bellingham doesn’t make sense. Liverpool will be put off, with £83 million being too high to pay for one position.

Manchester United wanted to sign the Birmingham youngster before he joined Borussia Dortmund in 2020. According to The Times, Jude Bellingham turned down the chance to join United because of concerns regarding his first-team playing chances. The highly regarded midfielder got more first-team opportunities at the Bundesliga club.

At just 19 years of age, Jude Bellingham is already one of the best players for both club and country and is deemed as a highly coveted prospect to return to the Premier League eventually like Jadon Sancho.

Jude Bellingham in action for Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United, Jude Bellingham — Image Obtained Via Marca

Player Profile

Jude Bellingham would be described as a box-to-box midfielder capable of playing anywhere in midfield, and is most lethal in a midfield three alongside two defensively-minded midfielders. He is a visionary, imaginative footballer and looks for space to take up goal-scoring positions. That’s evident from his 5 goals this season so far.

He is also quite versatile and unpredictable. He is a smooth operator in crowded areas and does his most impressive work while laying short passes in tight situations. He can drop a shoulder before accelerating in opposite direction to lose his marker.

His composure and self-belief will have been a significant part of the reason for Dortmund deciding to spend big on a teenager who was then relatively untested. With his inexperience, overconfidence usually leads to mistakes in critical decision-making.

Although, his faith in his own dribbling abilities means he sometimes chooses to dribble when he would be better served to play a simple pass.

His energetic dribbling is matched by an exceptional awareness of space when he doesn’t have the ball at his feet, and he frequently adopts integral positions in the attacking third to receive the ball. It appears that he is already maturing with better and more experienced players around him like Mats Hummels and Marco Reus.

In a tough league like Bundesliga, Bellingham is instructed to retain possession rather than try to win matches on his own. His pass success rate of 75 per cent at Birmingham was simply too low for a central midfielder, and that has increased in Germany.

Bellingham was recently named player of the match in England’s 3-3 draw against Germany in the 2022/23 UEFA Nations League campaign for his top-quality performance.

Jude Bellingham tonight:

Accurate passes – 41 (1st)
Passes in Final Third – 17 (1st)
Shots – 3 (1st)
Duels won – 8 (1st)
Possession won – 10 (2nd)

An all-action display. 👏 #bbcfootball #ENGGER

— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) September 26, 2022

Bellingham still hasn’t reached his full potential but has already reached the quality of a seasoned player. He can thrive in United’s midfield for many years to come especially being a homegrown player. But the Red Devils will have to shell out an exorbitant sum of money to Dortmund. Also, the Erik ten Hag project should be appealing to Bellingham which can lure him away from Dortmund.

Jude Bellingham is the type of player who, quite simply, makes things happen. With 15 goal-creating actions this season, he stands out in a Dortmund squad filled with goal-scorers and chance creators.

For a 19-year-old, he is exceptional in multiple areas and becomes one of the key players in any team he plays. Bellingham is an incredibly progressive dribbler and ball carrier, but he could do more to improve from a possession standpoint to become world-class.

Should Manchester United sign Bellingham? Let us know in the comments.

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