Former Manchester United captain Bryan Robson has said he and Eric Cantona did a ‘rubbish job’ in attempting to help the club secure Jude Bellingham’s signature four years ago.
Bellingham, along with his parents, visited United’s Carrington training base in March 2020, shortly before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The midfielder was on the books of Birmingham City at the time and was attracting a wealth of interest from big-name clubs.
A club source told the Manchester Evening News that United “rolled out the red carpet” to try and secure the England international’s signature. He met Sir Alex Ferguson on his visit to the club’s training ground and was greeted by other United staff.
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Now, United legend Robson has admitted that he and Cantona were on-site that day and chatted to him and his parents. Admitting he thought United had got him ‘in the bag’, Robson has claimed he and the aforementioned Frenchman didn’t do quite enough to convince him to join the club.
“It was really disappointing,” Robson told The Telegraph. “We were at Carrington and Sir Alex Ferguson was there a little earlier than I was, but Eric and I met him, and his mum and dad, and we were chatting away.
“It was really looking promising that he was going to be signing for Manchester United… me and Eric did a rubbish job as he signed for Borussia. We thought we had him in the bag.”
Bellingham finished the Covid-hit 2019/20 campaign at Birmingham before joining Borussia Dortmund in July 2020. The midfielder, of course, excelled in Germany and earned a mega-money move to Real Madrid last summer.
In his debut season in the Spanish capital, Bellingham, to date, has scored 20 goals and registered 10 assists in just 33 appearances. Prior to making the switch to the LaLiga table-toppers, United reignited their interest in the 20-year-old.
Erik ten Hag was understood to have told confidants that if he could sign any player in the world it would be the England ace. United, however, always accepted they were towards the back of the queue for his signature, such was the level of interest elsewhere.
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