Jude Bellingham set for second Man Utd approach as Ten Hag ‘endorses’ two moves

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Manchester United are reportedly preparing to attempt an audacious second approach to sign Jude Bellingham, despite the Borussia Dortmund man set to be closing in on a move to Real Madrid. The England midfielder is perhaps the hottest prospect available in the transfer market and several Premier League teams have been linked with a deal for the 19-year-old.

However, Carlo Ancelotti’s outfit are said to be in advanced talks and in all likelihood he will join Los Blancos this summer – though a fee still needs to be ironed out with Dortmund. This does not appear to have stopped United though as until Bellingham is paraded around the Bernabeu there is still a chance of a U-turn.

The Manchester Evening News have claimed that Erik ten Hag is determined to recruit a world-class midfielder and he has endorsed second pitches to both Bellingham and Frenkie De Jong. Dortmund are set to demand over £100million for the England star and if Madrid are not prepared to pay that fee, then in theory United could have another chance at Bellingham.

Bellingham and De Jong are considered the most desirable options, though United do have other targets in mind including Adrien Rabiot. However, a marquee striker is seen to be the top priority at United and money is available for one of that calibre such as Harry Kane or Victor Osimhen.

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The downside is that while money is available for a striker, in order to land a midfielder with the pedigree of Bellingham or De Jong then it would need to be funded by outgoing players regardless of the ownership situation. Sheikh Jassim of Qatar and Sir Jim Ratcliffe are both vying to take over from the Glazers, though they may be dictated by Financial Fair Play regulations.

Whether United would be able to generate such high fees through sales remains to be seen, as the likes of Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Anthony Elanga, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Anthony Martial could be on the chopping block.

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While the Red Devils could also look to sign a goalkeeper in a further blow to the finances involved for Bellingham.

This would not be the first time that United attempted to woo the teenage midfielder, having pulled out all the stops to sign him from Birmingham in 2020. Ex-Birmingham CEO Xuandong Ren detailed the pitch: “Ed Woodward was the most insistent. We sat down and talked about how we could convince Bellingham. But Jude didn’t make any decisions based on money.

“They offered a lot more salary compared to the rest…double. He was going to have guaranteed millions in the bank and he didn’t take them. That’s not normal for a player at all. He sat down with [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer, until Woodward brought [Sir Alex] Ferguson that day, another day to [Eric] Cantona, to try to convince him.”

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