Borussia Dortmund ‘beat Manchester United to signature of Birmingham teen Jude Bellingham’

Borussia Dortmund have secured the signature of highly-rated Birmingham teen Jude Bellingham, according to reports.

The Bundesliga club, who have infamously helped pave the way for Jadon Sancho‘s stardom, are expected to announce the deal in the next few days – with Dortmund said to have sealed the switch for around £20million.

Manchester United were firmly in the chase to sign the 16-year-old, and even invited him for a star-studded tour around their training base, but appear to have fallen short.  

The 16-year-old will follow in the footsteps of England star Jadon Sancho by joining Dortmund

The future of Bellingham, who lit up the Championship outfit after breaking into the first-team fold at a tender age, has long since been unclear.

A host of elite European clubs were also interested in luring him to them but, as reported by ESPN, the youngster has opted for Dortmund.

Bellingham will be unable to put pen to paper on a professional deal until he turns 17, which will be on June 29. 

He is currently earning just £145 per week at Birmingham, but has reportedly been handed an offer of £60,000-a-week at his new club.

And having already endeared himself to the St Andrew’s faithful, the starlet will see out the rest of the campaign in the second tier before permanently jetting out to Germany. 

The reported transfer figure comes in the form of a training compensation. The agreement is similar to the €7m deal that saw England international Sancho move from Manchester City to Dortmund in 2018. 

The talent will see out the rest of the season, which is expected to end in July, with Birmingham

According to ESPN, Bellingham has been carefully watched by Dortmund since the 2018-19 campaign, and they were able to convince him to sign due to their proven track record of allowing raw talents to flourish at a high level. 

But Old Trafford chiefs will certainly be disappointed at missing out on yet another target. 

The club remained hopeful of poaching Bellingham ahead of the fierce competition, and ushered him around a secret tour of Carrington in early March alongside his parents. 

Dortmund also snapped up Erling Haaland in the winter transfer window ahead of United, another deal that has paid dividends for the Bundesliga giants. 

Bellingham has made 33 league appearances for Birmingham in total, and more recently featured against Midlands rivals West Brom on Saturday. 

He has scored four goals this season, and created another three.