Jude Bellingham: How Bayern Munich tried to hijack Borussia Dortmund transfer
By Mitch Wilks
Birmingham City's former CEO has revealed that Bayern Munich unsuccessfully tried to scupper Borussia Dortmund's deal to sign Jude Bellingham in 2020.
Bellingham shot to prominence by breaking into Birmingham's first team at just 16 and by 2020 was the subject of signifcant interest from some of football's biggest clubs.
Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund led the race to sign the teenager in 2020 with others also interested, ready and waiting. But despite a personal tour of United's facilities and several promises, he opted to sign for Dortmund in Germany.
Since making the move, Bellingham has blossomed into one of the best midfielders in world football and is still only 19-years-old. It has since emerged that Bayern were also interested in signing the starlet two years ago, but missed out with a late attempt to pip their Bundesliga rivals.
Xuandong Ren told Mundo Deportivo of their last-ditch move: "The day he wanted to sign for Dortmund, I got a call from his father asking me to postpone the signing. Bayern tried to increase the offer at the last minute. They offered him so much money.
"He chose Dortmund and not Bayern, even though he might not win trophies or not make as much money. He put his development above everything else. How many players would do that?"
While hindsight is always a wonderful thing, it is clear to see that Bellingham was always making the correct decision by heading to Dortmund. He's since turned out over 100 times for Borussia and weighed in with almost 50 goal contributions from midfield.
His consistent performances for the club and subsequently increasing influence on the England setup has prompted more transfer speculation to arise, with Liverpool, Manchester City and Real Madrid vying for his signature heading into the summer of 2023.
90min reported earlier this month that all three clubs are hopeful that the lure of working with Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti respectively will prompt him to join them. Dortmund, meanwhile are trying to persuade him to stay for another year until after Euro 2024.