By Tom Gott
Harry Maguire has admitted he encouraged Manchester United to try sign Jude Bellingham during the early days of his time with Borussia Dortmund.
United famously lost out to Dortmund in the race for Bellingham's signature upon leaving boyhood club Birmingham City in 2020 and watched him emerge into a superstar during his time in Germany, which also yielded a maiden call-up to the England setup at just 17 years old.
Speaking to Sky Sports News, Maguire revealed he needed just a handful of sessions with the teenager before trying to convince United to get a deal done once again.
"Jude is an amazing player - a real big leader, a great personality and obviously very talented on the pitch," Maguire said. "I can't speak highly enough of Jude, he came to England and I knew within one or two sessions how he'd go.
"I went back to my club and I told them all about him but he took a different path and he's done really well for Real Madrid. I knew he would when he signed there and long may it continue."
United were named as suitors for Bellingham last summer before his move to Madrid but were never seen as genuine competitors for his signature. Indeed, it was Liverpool who led the race among English sides, but the Reds soon pulled out when they accepted they could not compete with the Spanish outfit financially.
Bellingham was named La Liga's Player of the Season after a stunning debut campaign in Spain, which has yielded 23 goals and 12 assists and could end with Champions League glory as Bellingham returns to Wembley for the final on Saturday.
Internationally, Bellingham now has 29 caps for England and he will expect to add to that tally this summer alongside Maguire at Euro 2024.
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Harry Maguire reveals talks with Man Utd over Jude Bellingham transfer.
