Rio Ferdinand urges Jude Bellingham to join Manchester United and snub Liverpool FC

Rio Ferdinand has urged Jude Bellingham to sign for Manchester United after dismissing Liverpool's chances of signing the Borussia Dortmund midfielder.

The 19-year-old superstar is expected to leave the Bundesliga outfit at the end of the season, with several clubs round the globe interested in signing the England international. It is thought that Liverpool are desperate to recruit the former Birmingham City player, with reports suggesting they have laid plenty of groundwork into signing Bellingham.

However, Jurgen Klopp's side are struggling in the Premier League and are not expected to progress to the last-eight of the Champions League after losing 5-2 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie on Tuesday night. It would certainly come as a surprise if Bellingham opted to join a side not competing in Europe's elite competition.

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Former United defender Ferdinand believes Liverpool might struggle to tempt Bellingham to Anfield, and while he believes Real Madrid are now favourites to sign the midfielder, he has urged the youngster to move to Old Trafford.

"I think Bellingham’s intelligent enough not to look at one result or one game in isolation," Ferdinand told BT Sport, after Liverpool's defeat to Madrid. "He’ll be looking at the bigger picture. Where are Liverpool? What does it look like in the next 12 months at Liverpool? What sort of impact can I have at Liverpool?

"If we said six months ago I don’t think Bellingham would question Liverpool’s trajectory because they were in a different place but at the moment I don’t think Liverpool are going to be on his radar. That will be very disappointing for Liverpool fans to