Frank Lampard has revealed that Chelsea’s leadership thwarted his efforts to secure the signing of a young Jude Bellingham long before the midfielder achieved his current superstar status.
Despite already gaining recognition as one of the most promising young talents in global football during his three seasons at Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham has gone on to surpass expectations since joining Real Madrid.
His remarkable contribution of 13 goals and three assists in various competitions accounts for a significant 55% of the team’s total output in both La Liga and the Champions League. Even at a hefty price tag of €134 million (£117 million) with add-ons, making him the most expensive English player in history, the 20-year-old now appears to be an absolute steal for Madrid.
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However, Bellingham’s trajectory could have taken a different turn had Lampard, during his initial tenure as Chelsea’s manager, managed to persuade the club to meet Birmingham’s financial demands.
“When I was at the helm of Chelsea, I was extremely eager to bring Jude Bellingham on board. Regrettably, I encountered resistance from the higher-ups when it came to the idea of investing £20 million in a player of his age,” Lampard disclosed in a conversation with his former teammate John Obi Mikel on the Obi One Podcast.
Bellingham had already made his mark by playing for Birmingham City’s Under-18 team at the tender age of 14, and he made his debut for the first team in August 2019, just 38 days past his 16th birthday. His potential was unmistakable, and throughout that season, the young prodigy was frequently linked to high-profile transfer moves.
Manchester United were very interested, before Dortmund won the race in 2020.
In 2022, former Birmingham chief executive Xuandong Ren disclosed that Jude Bellingham’s choice of destination was not driven by financial incentives. Even Manchester United’s offer of a salary package twice as lucrative as that of other potential suitors failed to sway him, and Frank Lampard’s efforts to persuade him to opt for Chelsea proved ineffective.
“[Former Man Utd chief] Ed Woodward was the most persistent. We had discussions about how to persuade Bellingham. However, Jude’s decisions were not influenced by financial considerations,” Ren revealed to the Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.
“[United] presented a significantly higher salary compared to others…doubling the amount. He would have had guaranteed millions in his bank account, but he declined. This was highly unusual for a player. He engaged in conversations with [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer, and Woodward even brought in [Sir Alex] Ferguson one day and [Eric] Cantona on another occasion, all in an attempt to convince him.”