I was told to join Man United by Sir Alex Ferguson - I'm 90 minutes from proving he was wrong

Jude Bellingham will be the star of the show during Saturday's Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

The English midfielder has enjoyed a remarkable debut campaign with Los Blancos, scoring 23 goals and providing 12 assists for team-mates on course to securing a La Liga title and Spanish Super Cup. Now on the verge of conquering Europe, he will be the favourite to claim the Ballon d'Or if this dream comes true.

He will of course be coming head-to-head against the side that kick-started his rapid progression in the game, Dortmund, providing an added edge to Saturday's fixture. The German side were the club to complete a deal for the 20-year-old four years ago, beating Manchester United to the transfer so many wanted to get over the line.

It was not for a lack of trying the Red Devils failed to recruit the Birmingham City academy graduate, having rolled out the red carpet to convince Bellingham to join during a visit he paid to Carrington in 2020.

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Bryan Robson, Erica Cantona and Sir Alex Ferguson were both part of the plan to sell the dream of stepping out at Old Trafford to the youngster, though

Of the view United had done enough to wrap up a deal, Robson later reflected: "It was really disappointing. We were at Carrington and Sir Alex Ferguson was there a little earlier than I was, but Eric and I met him, and his mum and dad, and we were chatting away. “It was really looking promising that he was going to be signing for Manchester United... me and Eric did a rubbish job as he signed