Gary Neville Lauds Jude Bellingham For Choosing Dortmund Over Manchester United Early in Career

English legend Gary Neville feels Jude Bellingham made the right choice by ditching Manchester United to join Borussia Dortmund four years back. Currently contracted with Real Madrid, Bellingham was heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford back in 2020 following a successful stint with Birmingham City in the EFL Championship.

The English midfielder, who was just 17 years old then, took no time to reject the offer from Manchester United. Instead, he chose to shift his base to Germany and signed a £25 million deal with Borussia Dortmund.

After representing the Bundesliga giants in 132 games across three seasons, Bellingham could attract a fascinating offer from Real Madrid. The Spanish club secured the signing of the 20-year-old for £115 million, making him the most expensive British player of all time. Bellingham has already shown his quality and class in the Real Madrid shirt.

During a recent discussion on Sky Sports along with Roy Keane, Gary Neville claimed that Bellingham wouldn’t be able to flourish much if he chose Manchester United over Borussia Dortmund. Managed by Erik Ten Hag, the Red Devils have struggled to match their stature in recent times. With 32 points in 21 matches, Manchester United are seventh in the Premier League table.

Referring to the century-old club’s persistent poor form, Neville said, “I’ve spoken to a couple of players before they’ve come here and said ‘you’ll never regret it, it’s a magic football club’. But I have to say looking back, it looks like pretty poor advice with what’s happened to them since they’ve come and it’s really sad.”

To give logic to his remark, the Manchester United legend dug out the reference to Jude Bellingham, who is no doubt one of the most promising footballers in the world at present. Despite playing as an attacking midfielder, the youngster has already demonstrated his goal-scoring ability for Real Madrid. In his 24 appearances for the La Liga side, Bellingham has netted 17 goals while providing six assists.

Pointing at his emerging career, Neville said, “You think of Jude Bellingham, and I think of that quite a lot when he walks into the boardroom here at Man United, United have agreed a fee with Birmingham, and so have Dortmund. He has a choice between Dortmund and United. And somehow that kid, well done to him, chose Borussia Dortmund, and he’s now one of the greatest players in the world, one of the greatest English talents.”

Bellingham lifted his first trophy with Real Madrid on Monday when his team thumped rivals Barcelona in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. It turned out to be a one-sided affair in Riyadh, with Real Madrid registering a 4-1 victory. Vinicius Jr was the star of the night as the Brazilian scored a hat-trick, giving Los Blancos a dominant lead in the first half.