Jude Bellingham has been a long-term target for Manchester United

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When Jude Bellingham burst onto the scene at Birmingham City during the 2019/20 campaign it was never going to take to long for him to start attracting attention.

And so it proved, with numerous big-name clubs soon being alerted to his talents and being linked with his signature.

Manchester United were amongst those firmly interested in signing the now-England international, so much so that he visited the club's Carrington training base in March 2020 and met with Sir Alex Ferguson, raising the hopes amongst United's supporters that they would win the race for his signature.

However, German giants Borussia Dortmund proved to be the lucky winners, landing him in a £25million deal a few months later, securing his services ahead of the start of the 2020/21 campaign.

A short time after completing his move to the Bundesliga giants, Bellingham opened up on why he elected to join the German club instead of United, pointing to the way Dortmund had developed young players in recent years.

"I just think the way Dortmund integrate young players into the first-team squad is next level," Bellingham said.

"There is not a club in Europe that does it quite like them. The way they are pushed and can also be reeled back in.

"They can review your performances. There is a person there for every player who has worked with the young players. Everyone has that support system to work for their chance in the first team.

"Man United have a great squad. And my decision had nothing to do with money. And I was so focused and so happy with the interest from Dortmund that this became my first choice. It was never [a case of] it's this over this club.

"For me it was Borussia Dortmund, and that's it."

At the time, Bellingham's thoughts on what was best for his future made sense. Dortmund, in recent years, had a better track record of maximising young players and presenting them with regular opportunities, as proven by their treatment of Jadon Sancho, who sealed a big-money move to Old Trafford during the summer transfer window.

However, United could now be set to embark on a similar path following the recent appointment of Ralf Rangnick on an interim basis. The experienced German, although he has been in charge for less than a month, has already shown that the door to the first-team for the club's younger players will always be open.

Against Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League just over a fortnight ago, Rangnick flooded the matchday squad with youngsters. Admittedly, United's place in the last-16 was already secured and it was a dead-rubber tie, but the German still had the confidence within himself to hand opportunities to the likes of Amad, Anthony Elanga, Teden Mengi, Charlie Savage and Shola Shoretire, amongst others. It was a sign of what could be about to come.

Now, with The Athletic reporting that Bellingham is on a five-man shortlist of targets for Rangnick, United's sudden change in philosophy as far as youngsters are concerned could convince the former Birmingham midfielder return to his homeland and complete the transfer that many United fans are dreaming of.

Admittedly, United, despite Bellingham's tender age of 18, would be inheriting a very different Bellingham to the one they wanted to sign almost two years ago. That is because the midfielder is not displaying the characteristics of an 18-year-old, but instead a matured, world-class player with enormous potential.

Nevertheless, Bellingham's past comments about his love for Dortmund's development of youth, combined with Rangnick's track record of promoting from within and installing extreme levels of faith in young players, could convince the England international to return his homeland and join United.

United want to sign a new holding midfielder in January and the recent appointment of Rangnick could help them in their efforts to land one of the most promising and exciting players in that role in the world.

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