Jude Bellingham admits he chose Borussia Dortmund instead of Manchester United for footballing reasons – and blamed the ‘noise’ that surrounded speculation of his move to Old Trafford.
The brilliant 17-year-old midfielder has left Sky Bet Championship strugglers Birmingham City to sign for the German giants in a £30m move on a five-year contract worth £60,000-a-week.
Bellingham will meet his new team-mates next Thursday. The team will head to a week-long training camp in Switzerland on August 10 with the German season to start on September 18.
He is expected to arrive in Germany with his parents but with a view to settling in by himself as his father Mark is a policeman in the West Midlands and his younger brother, 15-year-old Jobe, is in Birmingham’s academy.
In making his decision, Bellingham was attracted by the success Dortmund have had in recent years of promoting young talent, such as the Englishman Jadon Sancho, who he has spoken to.
Having been handed the number 22 shirt he had at Birmingham – and which has now been bizarrely retired by the club’s hierarchy in his honour – he believes he might have a better chance of first-team football in Germany than at Manchester United.
“I chose the club because it is the perfect step for my development,” said Bellingham after shedding tears after his farewell at St. Andrew’s.
“The record Borussia Dortmund have got with young players in recent years is unrivalled in European football. Weighing all that up with the people we met there, the stadium and fanbase, it made me fall in love with that club as well.”
Bellingham was said to have been ‘blown away’ by his visit to United’s Carrington training facility when he and his family were given a guided tour in March.
But the hype his trip to Manchester attracted, plus the feeling that he might get to play in the Champions League next season rather than possibly be loaned out, helped him decide Dortmund was the right destination.
Regarding his decision to reject United, Bellingham said: “There are a few details that are a bit off about that whole thing, but to be honest I’m just glad that saga is over.
“There was a lot of noise around me at the time and all I wanted to do was play for Birmingham City. Now I am really looking forward to the future.”
Bellingham said he was swayed by the recent example of Sancho, 20, who has hugely impressed at Dortmund after making the move from Manchester City at the same age as the former Birmingham midfielder, in August 2017.
“Our paths have crossed in the past and we have spoken maybe once,” added Bellingham. “He is a great example of what you can achieve if you do the right things. It is a credit to himself and a credit to the work Borussia Dortmund do.”
Bellingham will go straight into Dortmund’s first-team squad, which means he is likely to play in the Champions League before he plays in the Premier League.
“If I get the chance to play in the Champions League next season it will be a dream come true,” he said. “You can feel the music and atmosphere just through the telly.
“It is everyone’s dream really – to get that chance at a club like that is not something you can turn down. I look forward to that.”
United will qualify for the Champions League if they win at Leicester City on Sunday.
Bellingham insists he is not looking to put another one over United by beating them in that competition after snubbing them.
“That is not my main focus. I look forward to trying to perform my best for Borussia Dortmund,” he said.
But one United legend he is inspired by is Wayne Rooney, another one-time prodigy.
The pair came directly against each other on Wednesday night in Birmingham’s 3-1 defeat to Derby County, where Rooney is captain and double Bellingham’s age.
“Growing up Wayne Rooney was my hero and favourite player,” he said. “To share the pitch with him was a real pleasure. He wished me all the best. Just to be in his presence and see the way he moves and the way he communicates was an honour.”
Like Rooney, Bellingham has already played several positions – on both flanks, as a central midfielder, as a No 10, as a defensive midfielder and even striker.
But he hasn’t been given any guarantees about where he might play. “There has not really been much conversation about that,” he said.
“It is not as important with me when I can play anywhere, which I’m willing to do and I can still be a threat. I know if I work hard there will be chances and I will try to take them.”
But, like Rooney and Sancho, Bellingham, an England Under-17 international, has ambitions to break into the full squad.
“It’s everybody’s dream to play for their country,” he said. “It would be really nice to represent my country at Under-21 or first-team level, but it is not my number one priority.
“I want to be the best player I can be for Borussia Dortmund.”
More on the Bundesliga
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- The wonderkid factory: How Dortmund became the world’s best finishing school for young footballers
- The rise of Gio Reyna: ‘Fearless’ Sunderland-born wonderkid destined for big things at Dortmund
- ‘You cannot hide’: Bibiana Steinhaus on refereeing, sexist footballers and learning to be herself
- Rabbi Matondo interview: ‘I could never say anything bad about Man City – but I’m so grateful to be at Schalke’
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- ‘I didn’t come here just to play football’: Everton loanee Kenny on Schalke, Wagner and his Goodison struggles
- ‘One of the most surreal days’: Uwe Rosler talks about how coronavirus stopped the Bundesliga in its tracks
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3fWHMLr
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