Chelsea went to great lengths in an attempt to sign Jude Bellingham from Birmingham City prior to his move to Borussia Dortmund.
Bellingham is now widely recognised as one of the best players in the world after continuing his rapid rise through the ranks culminating in a move to Real Madrid.
The 20-year-old, who took Zinedine Zidane’s legendary no.5 at the Bernabeu, has went from strength-to-strength since leaving Dortmund, scoring 17 goals in 25 La Liga appearances.
Advert
Things could have been different for Bellingham who was wanted by multiple Premier League clubs during his time at Birmingham, with Manchester United going as far as showing him and his family around their Carrington training facility.
Chelsea were another club who attempted to lure Bellingham away from the Midlands and one of their former scouts revealed the lengths the London side went to in an attempt to win the race for his signature.
Yousuf Sajjad worked as a scout for Chelsea during Antonio Conte and Maurizio Sarri’s time at the club and claimed the clubs had reports down to his celebration in order to showcase they’d be the right club for him to take the next step at.
Advert
“Probably the most work I've ever done on a player in that season was when we tried to sign Jude,” he told Rising Ballers. "We had reports on him from when he was in the under-12s all the way up to under-16.
"We had like 62 reports from 25 different scouts.
"When we got to a point where we felt like we wanted to sign him, it was no different to every top club in the country. It was like how can we make what we present to him different.
"We now have the content we need from U12 to U16 from a recording perspective, let's try and create trends on what has remained the same for him as a player, including his celebration. There was moments where he'd have that as the same as it is now.
Advert
"But also pick up what he has developed and what he still needs to develop. We add a real long video of him playing as U12, all the way up, highlighting those traits.
"At the end, we've put him on a FIFA reel in a Chelsea kit - trying to think outside the box really.
"That's what I spent a lot of my time doing, is the end part where we're making the decisions and presenting our information to players. Making it as unique as possible so we can get the player over the line."
Sajjad revealed Bellingham’s unwillingness to leave Birmingham as a youngster halted any move to Stamford Bridge and claims scouts had noticed a dip in his form as a 15-year-old.
Advert
He added: “"He was always on a radar. We had target lists from when I first came in. He was someone that was a real top talent to keep an eye on.
“When it came to recruitment, he was outside the distance in the younger ages. When it got to U14, we had a full-time sports programme so it was easier for us. At the time, he didn't want to move. We continuously just followed him, he was the player we always rated highly.
"He had a slight dip in the U15 season, he was going through growth and different aspects which impacted performances. But after that, he shot through."
Topics: Chelsea, Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid, Premier League, Manchester United, Transfer News