Man Utd ‘lurk’ for winter Bellingham move with Dortmund drama to get ‘more explosive’

Man Utd are one of two clubs hoping to do a deal for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jobe Bellingham in the winter transfer market, according to reports.

Bellingham, who is the brother of Real Madrid superstar Jude, has struggled to make the desired impact at Dortmund following a £27m summer transfer from Sunderland.

The 20-year-old has only started two Bundesliga matches for Dortmund so far this season with Bellingham being taken off at half-time in one of those fixtures against St Pauli.

His father, Mark Bellingham, went to speak to Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl in the tunnel at half-time to get an explanation for his son’s withdrawal in a match they were leading 1-0.

England legend Sir Geoff Hurst called Bellingham’s dad’s actions “an absolute disgrace” and warned that he must change his behaviour.

Dortmund managing director Lars Ricken attempted to play down the incident but hinted that a similar thing will not happen again.

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Ricken told Sky90 – The Football Debate: “We got Jobe Bellingham because we really built a relationship of trust with the parents over the years. Now the family flew in especially for their son’s first Bundesliga game and wanted to meet Jobe after the game.

“They stood in the hallway to the locker room and had an emotional conversation with Sebastian, which, however, is not a problem at all given this relationship.

“In the future though, we will ensure that players, coaches, and any officials have access to the locker room area, so that we no longer get into trouble by commenting on such news.

“But today everything has been resolved – no drama.”

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And now there are rumours that both Bellingham and Dortmund could be seeking to move on from their new relationship after only a few months.

German newspaper Bild claim that Man Utd and Crystal Palace are ‘lurking’ for Bellingham ahead of a potential move in the winter transfer market.

Other reports have insisted that Bellingham is ‘increasingly frustrated with his limited playing time’ but Bild claim he is ‘not wasting any thought on this scenario (currently) and continue to see the younger brother of superstar Jude (23/Real Madrid) as a future asset.’

‘The report adds: ‘United’s coach Rúben Amorim (40) is said to be a fan of the “Mini-Bellingham” because his physical robustness and playing style would fit perfectly into his system.

‘Should [Niko] Kovac remain true to his performance principle and allow the previously rather weak Jobe to continue to stew on the bench, this vexed topic will certainly become even more explosive in the coming weeks before the winter break.’

TBR Football journalist Graeme Bailey also has an update on the Man Utd-linked star’s situation, he claims: “Dortmund do not see Bellingham as having a struggle to this point, they are second in the league, he is contributing, and their head coach Niko Kovac has no issue with the player.

“He is being used, he has featured a number of times, and they do point to the fact that this is a player that has never played top-flight football before this season.

“Dortmund invested good money into this young player, and they are not currently thinking about parting ways, they are happy with how things are going thus far.”

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