Jude Bellingham WASN’T given assurances he’d start for Man Utd says Rio Ferdinand as he reveals why ace snubbed transfer

JUDE BELLINGHAM did not sign for Manchester United because the club refused to promise him first-team football, according to Rio Ferdinand.

The England international, 20, joined Borussia Dortmund three years ago when he left Birmingham.

Jude Bellingham could have joined Manchester United three years agoGetty

Rio Ferdinand believes he knows why Bellingham did not choose Man UtdRex

But it is widely known he was in talks to join Man Utd, with the Red Devils even employing Sir Alex Ferguson to speak to him.

Bellingham also had a tour of Old Trafford, before he ended up choosing Dortmund.

Man Utd lined up at the start of the 2020/21 season with a midfield three of Scott McTominay, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes.

And they lost their opening game 3-1 at home to Crystal Palace.

But fans would have been blown away had Bellingham lined up alongside Pogba and Fernandes.

Yet they ended up missing out on the teenage sensation – who went on to score 24 goals and provide 25 assists in 132 games for Dortmund.

Then in the summer he joined Real Madrid and has hit the ground running in a remarkable way, bagging 13 goals and three assists in 13 matches.

And Ferdinand has now revealed where it went wrong for Man Utd when it came to agreeing a deal with Bellingham.

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Speaking on Vibe with Five, he said: “Do you know what I heard it was… he [Bellingham] wanted some assurances about being a first-team player.

“And United weren’t willing to give him those assurances, that’s what I heard from a very good source.

“He wasn’t given assurances of being around the first team and he’s said, ‘do you know what, I know my worth, I know my value and if you don’t value me the way I see myself I’m going to have to jog on and go to another club’.

“He’s gone and done that and he’s turned round and gone, ‘I told you guys, you didn’t believe me did you?’.

“And he’s gone Real Madrid and he’s tearing down Real Madrid, he’s turning down the Bernabeu, they’ve just rebuilt it and he’s tearing it down! Unbelievable.”

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