Bellingham Rejecting MUFC Proved That He Cherished His Development – Lee Camp

No one is laughing now at Birmingham City retiring Jude Bellingham’s No.22 shirt, Lee Camp has said. He, however, admitted that the call was a bit dramatic, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, the moment Jude turned down MUFC despite the club doing everything to sign him, he proved how aware of his own development he was.

Camp added that deciding to join BvB at that point showed that his growth mattered a lot to him.

His words, “He told one or two of us what happened. They rolled out all the big guns. Having the maturity to then choose Dortmund, knowing how they had developed players, just showed how aware of his own development he was. He had turned down Manchester United and that was a big thing to do but he knew where he needed to be. You could see with that choice that he would develop and he would go onto something after that. I remember speaking to Kevin Thelwell when he was director of football at Wolves and he said ‘we’d take him in a heartbeat but he can’t get near him’. He said all the top European clubs were lining up and he had the pick of where he wanted to go. Even before he got into the first-team he could have left and had options.”

On Birmingham retiring Bellingham’s jersey, “I laughed as well! I thought it was a bit dramatic. But no-one is laughing now.”

WOW.

Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and the England national team.

Bellingham joined Birmingham City as an under-8, became the club’s youngest ever first-team player when he made his senior debut in August 2019, at the age of 16 years, 38 days, and played regularly during the 2019–20 season. He joined Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, and in his first appearance became their youngest ever goalscorer. Over three seasons with the club he made 132 appearances, was a member of their 2020–21 DFB-Pokal-winning team, and helped them finish as runners-up in the 2022–23 Bundesliga. He signed for Real Madrid in June 2023.

Jude Victor William Bellingham was born on 29 June 2003 in Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, the eldest son of Denise and Mark Bellingham. His father Mark was, until 2022, a sergeant in the West Midlands Police, and a prolific goalscorer in non-League football.

Bellingham’s younger brother, Jobe, is also a footballer. Bellingham attended Priory School in Edgbaston, Birmingham.