'He wanted some assurances' - Rio Ferdinand reveals exactly why Man Utd missed out on signing of 16-year-old Jude Bellingham in 2020 amid sensational Real Madrid form

United attempted to sign Bellingham when it became clear that he would be leaving Birmingham City. Reportage at the time suggested that they showed the teenager and his family around Carrington, with Sir Alex Ferguson involved in the tour, but he instead opted to move to Germany with Dortmund.

The Bundesliga club paid £25m ($30m) to sign the midfielder, and he went on to flourish before earning a move to Real Madrid, worth an initial £88.5m ($108m).

Bellingham has been unbelievable since his move to Spain. In total, he has scored 13 goals in 13 games in all competitions and has also laid on three assists.

How United could do with his midfield prowess given their dire start to 2023-24, and Ferdinand has claimed that the reason he didn't end up in Manchester was due to the Red Devils being unwilling to give the youngster "assurances" over becoming a first-team player.

Speaking on his Five YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: "Do you know what I heard it was, he 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 tearing down the Bernabeu, they’ve just rebuilt it and he’s tearing it down! Unbelievable."

Bellingham will next be in action when Real Madrid face Rayo Vallecano in La Liga this weekend before returning to Champions League action against Braga.