Manchester United hero Bryan Robson was convinced Manchester United would sign Jude Bellingham.
The Borussia Dortmund star is one of the most exciting young players in world football and United rolled out the red carpet to try and sign him when he was a promising Birmingham starlet.
Bellingham came through the ranks at Birmingham and had a number of clubs fighting over him
In the end, Borussia Dortmund won the race to sign him and he moved to Germany in 2020
He eventually chose to continue his development at Borussia Dortmund and the 19-year-old has since played 100 times for the Bundesliga side, establishing himself as one of the game's most influential stars.
Bellingham has been heavily linked with a move to Liverpool next summer and it will be a case of what might have been.
At United's Carrington training ground, a heavyweight trio of him, Eric Cantona and Sir Alex Ferguson were tasked with bringing him to Old Trafford.
Speaking to The Sun, Robson explained the three of them met the player and his mum. "After that meeting we thought he was coming to us.
"Now there is talk about him moving next summer and you see Liverpool mentioned a lot.
"We thought we had him and he would have been a great signing for us. But he definitely has it in him to become a great player for England."
Robson has praised Bellingham and admits he can see the comparisons between himself and the player
He added: "I definitely think he might have a bit of me in him. It's all very well flying forward and trying to score but it's also about protecting your back four.
"That was something I always believed that you had to do as a midfielder.
"I watched him closely playing against City and you could see how much he's progressed since we thought we had landed him at Manchester United a couple of years ago.
"He has fantastic anticipation — as we saw in the way he darted into the box to put away his header. But he wins plenty of battles as well.
Bellingham has already played 15 times for England and is set to be a key man at the World Cup
"A lot of people think he's more or less an attacking midfielder but he can do the other side of it as well.
"He's a good size. He's pretty quick and in fact he's got a bit of everything about him.
"What he's got to do, of course, is keep his feet on the ground and work hard to be the best he can be.
"But you can see why he has become such a big target in the market because he is such a big talent.
"And if he keeps performing like he did against City he will be a big part of England's World Cup bid."
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