Manchester United to give 16-year-old a first team chance if they sign him this summer – reports

Manchester United are reportedly prepared to offer 16-year-old Jude Bellingham the chance of first team football if they managed to sign talented teenager this summer from Championship club Birmingham City. It is reported that United are willing to part with £50 million to sign the midfielder this summer.

I do not know if United are prepared to bid £50 million for the player or whether this will be the entire package, including wages. It is a massive amount of money but the player could well be worth it in the future when he is fully developed. United rolled out the red carpet for the player earlier this year, letting him meet Sir Alex Ferguson.

There is a whole host of teams in Europe that are interested in the player, including Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund and United’s Premier League rivals Chelsea. It has been suggested that United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would allow the player to compete with the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes in the first team.

Bellingham made a total of 35 appearances for Birmingham City during the 2019/20 season, which was suspended in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. 32 of those appearances came in the Championship. The 16-year-old scored four goals, assisting a further three, all in the Championship.

United are said to be hoping that the offer of first team football in the top-flight of football would fend off their rivals with Chelsea having a lot of young talent at the club which is regularly loaned out of the club and Dortmund having a similar problem without the loans out of the club. United could be a place where the teenager becomes a man.

It is stated that Bellingham earns £145 a week on a scholarship contract at Birmingham and that could increase fo around £30,000 if he signed for United, which could well be his first professional contract – which he could sign at the age of 17. However, he could sign a contract at Birmingham also, giving the need for a high transfer fee.

Solskjaer clearly has his heart set on giving young and talented players, who want to play for United, the chance to do just that. It is a shame that Angel Gomes did not have the desire to do this, as he is expected to leave the Old Trafford club at the end of next month, on the expiry of his contract. Bellingham could take the chance he did not.

Gomes is linked to Chelsea at this moment in time, and considering that he wants first team football, it seems like a decision that could go wrong for him, especially with the likes Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Christian Pulisic, and Billy Gilmour who will be ahead of the player at the club. This is before loan players come back.

Bellingham, if he chooses United, will have the world at his feet in terms of what he could achieve in his career. Solskjaer looks up to Ferguson, who managed 1,500 matches at the club, winning 59.67% of them and winning a total of 38 trophies including; 13 Premier League titles, two UEFA Champions League trophies, and five FA Cups.

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.