JUDE BELLINGHAM has revealed he never considered joining Manchester United in the summer – as he was so focused on Borussia Dortmund.
The former Birmingham star, 17, was subject to a massive tug-of-war in the summer between United and Dortmund.
Bellingham and his parents were even invited to Man Utd’s Carrington training ground to be given the VIP tour treatment.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantona and current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all tried to convince him to head to Old Trafford, too.
But Bellingham has revealed it was never really a contest – as he had his heart set on the German giants, following in Jadon Sancho’s footsteps.
Since heading to Dortmund, the midfielder has become the youngest Englishman to start a Champions League game and the youngest player to start for England’s Under-21s.
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Bellingham told The Telegraph: “Well, you know, Man Utd have a great squad.
“But my decision had nothing to do with Man Utd.
“I was so focused and so happy with the interest from Dortmund that this became my first choice.
“For me, it was Borussia Dortmund and that’s it.
“When you find somewhere that’s the best place to be, you kind of ignore everything else, you know what I mean?”
Bellingham became just the latest English youngster to join Dortmund, following new team-mate Jadon Sancho.
Sancho quit Manchester City’s youth ranks in 2017 and quickly became a star.
But ex-Birmingham ace Bellingham has claimed he didn’t speak to Sancho before heading to the Westfalenstadion – but did follow his example.
Bellingham claimed: “I didn’t really speak to Jadon… I sort of spoke to him through other people.
“I would mention something and they would say, ‘Jadon thought the same about this or that.’
“I’ve said before how big of an example Jadon is for someone English and my age.
“We’re all trying to play but, specifically, we’re trying to make that next step into Europe’s elite.
“I think Jadon has done that perfectly and he was a massive factor in looking at his journey.
“Hopefully, I can mirror it.”
