Man Utd's budget Bellingham alternative could be available

Stuart Telford

• 21 Jan 2023 04:41 CST
• 3 min read

Jude Bellingham may have dismissed the prospect of joining Manchester United as Liverpool and Real Madrid swirl, but Erik ten Hag has an alternative up his sleeve.

United tried to sign Bellingham before he joined Borussia Dortmund from Birmingham in 2020, and have maintained their interest even if his star has risen perhaps too high for them to acquire him now.

Bellingham replied: "don't be silly man!" when asked by a United fan recently if he would join them, and his father Mark - something of a non-league goalscoring legend himself - was reportedly in talks with Liverpool last week.

READ: 'Bellingham's dad talking to Liverpool'

Bellingham looks most likely to end up at the Reds, Real, or, just as painfully for United, across town at Manchester City. But Ten Hag has the perfect alternative, one who could cost the Red Devils €100m less, in Ryan Gravenberch.

Gravenberch, like Bellingham, is a central midfielder who is happy to occupy more than one position in the middle of the park, and he nearly joined United last summer before opting for Bayern Munich instead.

Gravenberch had previously played under Ten Hag at Ajax, winning the Dutch domestic double under him in 2021, but he explained his decision at the time.

READ: The five Bayern Munich players who could leave in January

Gravenberch: 'Man Utd a beautiful club'

"Manchester United is a very big and beautiful club, but I already had such a good feeling at Bayern and I had given my word," he said. "My choice was actually made pretty quickly. The plan they sketched me out just made sense."

Unfortunately for Gravenberch, little of that plan has been realised, and he has played second fiddle to Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Marcel Sabitzer for a central midfield berth in Bavaria this season.

Gravenberch averaged three tackles but four shot-creating actions per game in the Netherlands, and could be available for less than the €48.6m he is rated at by Football Transfers' in-house algorithm having never started a Bundesliga game since.