Manchester United Has completed the of signing Amourricho Van Axel Dongen,
After Jude Bellingham lit up the winter of 2022, his future is likely to dominate the summer of 2023.
The Borussia Dortmund and England midfielder is one of the most exciting prospects on the planet and clubs from right across Europe have long since been queueing up to position themselves in the race to secure his signature. It is widely expected that the 19-year-old, who starred at the World Cup in Qatar, will leave the German heavyweights this summer and join one of Europe’s big hitters.
Although Manchester United recognise that they are not at the front of the queue to try and win the battle, they are, at the very least, in the race. The youngster visited Carrington back in March 2020 when he was still on the books of Birmingham City and the Reds have always maintained an interest.
United are planning to strengthen their central-midfield options this summer and the club, as reported by the Manchester Evening News back in December, are not ruling out the prospect of making a fresh attempt to sign England’s brightest talent. Manager Erik ten Hag wants to add younger legs to his pool of midfield options and is understood to have told confidants that if he could sign any player in the world it would be Bellingham.
Even though Dortmund are going to demand an astronomical fee to even consider letting go of the midfielder, who has scored 10 goals in all competitions for Edin Terzic’s side this season, that is not going to put clubs off attempting to sign him. He is a generational talent and he is poised to be inundated with offers from some of the most powerful clubs in the game.
The likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Spanish heavyweights Real Madrid are likely to submit pitches to try and convince Bellingham that they would be the right club for him, meaning United will face stern competition. All of the three aforementioned clubs have been streets ahead of the Reds in recent years.
United, however, have provided proof this season that they are making strides back towards the top step. They have ended their six-year wait for a trophy, winning the Carabao Cup, are on course to finish inside the top-four, securing a route back into the Champions League for next season, and are still competing in two other cup competitions, both of which they are among the favourites to win.
If Ten Hag can take United the distance in both the FA Cup and the Europa League and end his maiden season in charge by winning three trophies, the job of convincing players to join the club should be so much easier. It would show prospective new additions that the club is moving in the right direction again after years of going backwards.
“I have my destiny in my hands,” he told Ruhr Nachrichten BVB, speaking in May last year. “I know that if I try hard and trust the people around me, I can move forward.
If United end this season with three trophies, scooping the Europa League and the FA Cup on top of their Carabao Cup crown by the first weekend in June – and clinch a top-four finish – that will be enough evidence to confirm that they are on a steep upward trajectory under Ten Hag. Though it still looked possible a few weeks ago, a league title is now out of the question this season, but three cup triumphs would offer encouragement that the club’s decade-long wait to win the Premier League title could soon be over.
