Manchester United table £12.5m offer for Birmingham City wonderkid Bellingham

Bengaluru, Jan 13: Manchester United want to bring Birmingham City sensation, Jude Bellingham to Old Trafford and reportedly have tabled a bid of £12.5m.

The 16-year-old is seen as one of the hottest prospects of English football right now and United now have been credited with a strong interest.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to restore United to former glories and eager to establish it from the grassroots level with signing some of the brightest young talents from around the world.

His assistant Mike Phelan reportedly has watched Bellingham several times in action for Birmingham in the Championship and has been left impressed hugely.

The Red Devils are believed to be at the forefront to sign him however there has been serious attention from the biggest clubs in Europe as well.

Two clubs are understood to have made formal approaches for the player and the Red Devils are one of them. Bayern Munich are touted as another side who have shown interest in him while Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund too reportedly have enquired about the youngster.

United's reported bid of £12.5m is certainly a staggering sum for a player who will not celebrate his 17 birthday until the end of June but he already has shown huge promises in the Championship.

Birmingham however reportedly are unaffected by the rumours and are said to be keen on keeping hold of the youngster. The player also apparently is more interested in building up his experience before making such move but a call from Old Trafford nevertheless will be tempting.

Here are a few notable facts about the player:

Bellingham has been at Birmingham since the under-eight level and at 16 years and 38 days, he beat the record of 16 years and 139 days set by Trevor Francis back in 1970. Bellingham became Birmingham City's youngest ever goalscorer when he grabbed the winner against, Stoke. Earlier a month back, he also had become the youngest player to appear for Brum against Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup on August 6.

Bellingham has been deployed in the centre of a midfield four at Birmingham and has been a star in struggling Birmingham side who are 18th in the table. The 16-year-old so far has made 21 appearances for the club this season, scoring twice and contributing an assist for his team-mates. He has also been involved in the England development squads, having been called up for the Under-17 side this season. He also captained England to glory in the under-17s Skyrenka Cup in Poland, scoring against Finland and Austria, before leading his country to a penalty shootout victory over the hosts. Moreover, he was also named player of the tournament.

The youngster is still on a scholar's wages with just £145-per-week but with his 17th birthday, which is on June, he can turn professional. His rise now can earn him a significant hike at his boyhood side or a big-money move away to a new side.

The Birmingham city teenager is the eldest son of Mark Bellingham, who played into his 40s, scoring more than 700 goals in total for a number of West Midlands non-league clubs. He currently works as his son's mentor.