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 for Borussia! We thought we had him in the bag!"

Also present was then United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who revealed on Stick to Football how it was clear Bellingham had a clear vision of what he expected from his next club. "Jude, he was in the building. I was there, Sir Alex Ferguson was there, Bryan Robson and Eric Cantona were all there that day when he came to the club," said the Norwegian.

"We all spoke to him and sold it as well as we could. He knew what he wanted, a certain amount of minutes in the first team. He was 17 at the time, and he was the most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met – he had it all planned out."

Many theories have emerged as to why Bellingham snubbed United in favor of a move to Germany, with the most prominent relating to assurances over gametime. Supporting this suggestion, former Birmingham City CEO Dong Ren made clear finances were not at all related to the player's Dortmund decision.

"United made the biggest offer we received compared to Bayern, Dortmund, Leicester or other clubs like Wolves," Ren told Mundo Deportivo. "Ed Woodward [then United CEO] was the most insistent. We sat down and talked about how we could convince Bellingham. But Jude didn't make any decisions based on money. “They offered much more salary compared to the rest. Maybe double. He was going to have guaranteed millions in the bank and he did not take them. That's not normal for a player at all."

Backing up this school of thought on Vibe with Five, Rio Ferdinand added: "Do you know what I heard it was… he [Bellingham] wanted some assurances about being a first-team player and United weren’t willing to give him those assurances - that’s what I heard from a very good source. He wasn’t given assurances of being around the first team and he’s said, ‘do you know what, I know my worth, I know my value and if you don’t value me the way I see myself I’m going to have to jog on and go to another club’."

Explaining in his own words why Dortmund was the right next step, Bellingham told The Telegraph. in 2020: "Well, you know, Man United have a great squad but my decision had nothing to do with Man United," Bellingham said "I was so focused and so happy with the interest from Dortmund that this became my first choice. For me, it was Borussia Dortmund and that’s it. When you find somewhere that’s the best place to be, you kind of ignore everything else, you know what I mean?"

Bellingham can certainly be considered one that got away for United - a feeling that will only grow stronger if he is to become a European champion with the whole world watching, no doubt including Sir Alex Ferguson.