The tricks Man Utd used to try and take Jude Bellingham from Birmingham City

Birmingham City’s former CEO, Xuandong Ren, has revealed to Mundo Deportivo that Manchester United reportedly tried to sign Bellingham in 2020. However, as we know, he joined Borussia Dortmund for an initial fee of £25 million - despite the Red Devils potentially offering him more money.

Ren also claimed that United were offering “twice as much as the rest of the clubs”. They held meetings with Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantona and then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in an effort to convince the Stourbridge superstar to join the Red Devils.

Ren added: “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.

“I could only act as Birmingham’s CEO. I could say to him Jude, Manchester United are offering you three times what we are offering, you have to go.

“And it was a difficult position, because I wanted to respect his decision. At the time he could have gone for free, and we wouldn’t see any money. And our promise was that we would let them make the decision because of the loyalty they showed us.”

As things stand, Bellingham appears to poised for a move to the Premier League. While Liverpool remain the favourites to acquire his signature, Manchester United are also reported to be in the hunt - can they land him this time, or will he snub them once again?