How Man Utd could repeat De Jong mistake with Bellingham transfer

Suraj Radia

Updated: 23 May 2023 08:55 CDT
3 min read

Frenkie de Jong, Jude Bellingham, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund — © ProShots

Manchester United have reportedly identified Jude Bellingham as their top transfer target for next year but a pursuit for the Dortmund midfielder may only bring a sense of déjà vu for Erik ten Hag.

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A report from Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sport Germany claims that Bellingham is United’s number one priority despite an acceptance that their chances of signing the 19-year-old are low due to competition from other sides and concerns over Financial Fair Play.

Bellingham will likely leave Dortmund next summer and is expected to command a fee of around €150 million, with the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool among the teams who will compete with United for his signature.

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With free-spending Chelsea and European champions Real Madrid also likely to pursue Bellingham, United could find themselves wasting a lot of time for no reward, something they have a history of doing in the transfer market.

Having endured a similar saga in recent years with Jadon Sancho and this summer with Frenkie de Jong, United need to learn from past mistakes and admit defeat in the chase for Bellingham to avoid getting burned in the process.

Big money is not the solution to United’s problems

United spent the entire summer trying to make De Jong their marquee signing despite the Barcelona midfielder’s insistence that he was not interested in a move.

The lengthy chase saw United fail to make progress with alternative transfers and led to Ten Hag woefully unprepared to begin the season, resulting in back-to-back defeats in their opening two games.

United ended up scrambling in the final few weeks of the transfer window and eventually signed Casemiro and Antony, the latter of whom they ended up overpaying for, having been quoted a lower price earlier in the window.

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The club have had a long-standing issue of trying to compete with the biggest teams for the most coveted players through large wages to compensate for a lack of regular trophies and Champions League football.

As a result, United have often been slow to move in the market, missing out on more suitable players, overspending on last-resort options and forcing the team to play catch-up on and off the pitch.

Should the club already accept that their chances are low in signing Bellingham, they could instead focus on alternatives who would represent better value for money and prove that United have finally learned from their mistakes.