“Ed Woodward (then United’s managing director) was the one who was most insistent,” he told Mundo Deportivo.
“We sat down and talked about how we could convince Bellingham. But Jude didn’t make any decisions based on money.
“Manchester United offered twice as much as the rest of the clubs, they even brought him together with Ferguson, Cantona and Solskjaer to convince him. But Jude did not make any decision based on money”
“They were offering much more salary compared to the rest. Maybe double. He was going to be guaranteed millions in the bank and he didn’t take it. That’s not normal for a player at all,”
“I could only act as Birmingham’s CEO. I could say to him Jude, Manchester United are offering you three times what we are offering, you have to go.
“And it was a difficult position, because I wanted to respect his decision. At the time he could have gone for free, and we wouldn’t see any money. And our promise was that we would let them make the decision because of the loyalty they showed us.”