Jude Bellingham was almost a done deal at Arsenal, says Tony Adams

Arsenal legend Tony Adams claims that Arsenal had a contract in place for Jude Bellingham until a change of management allowed him to fall through the cracks. Prior to his contract with Borussia Dortmund, the Gunners had a contract in place to sign Bellingham, according to Adams, but the appointment of Edu as the club’s sporting director altered things.

It’s been an extraordinary ascent for Bellingham who joined Dortmund from Birmingham City for a cost of £25 million at the start of the last season. Bellingham made his professional debut for Birmingham City in the Championship in 2019 and At 16 years and 63 days, he became the club’s youngest ever scorer.

Tony Adams has subsequently revealed that the changeover in power from Mislintat and his team to Edu saw an agreed deal to land teenage superstar Bellingham break down.

Tony Adams: “I think it got lost, this one, in the transition of the chief scout at Arsenal going out. #AFC pic.twitter.com/2jeo478qJa
— Gunners Daily (@GD_football) September 17, 2021

Tony Adams remarked in an interview with Sky Sports: “I think it (a deal to sign Bellingham) got lost, this one, in the transition of the chief scout at Arsenal, going out. He was spotted very early on, not by me, by the Arsenal recruitment office. The chief scout was absolutely bowled over by him and the great prospect that he is.”

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“He had more or less done the deal but at that moment the new sporting director Edu came in from Brazil and had no European experience and no UK experience. I think it got lost in the transition, Edu didn’t know anything about this player. Unfortunately, the chief scout kind of had the deal kind of done.”

Edu’s hiring as the sporting director occurred at a time when the club was experiencing a significant transformation, with several scouts losing their jobs. High-profile scouts Steve Morrow and Francis Cagigao were among those who were passed on when Edu took over from former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat in 2019.

Arsenal missed a big opportunity by losing Jude Bellingham: Tony Adams

Bellingham has performed impressively for Borussia Dortmund. During Dortmund’s first Champions League group stage win over Besiktas, he turned in a spectacular display.

Adams believes that the Gunners missed a big opportunity by losing Bellingham. He also added that they need these kinds of players in the team to build a strong squad for the future.

“We missed that one, unfortunately. They are the type of players we need to get hold of at Arsenal if we’re ever going to develop and move forward. We need these kinds of players, we need to tie them up and get them to Arsenal and build a phenomenal league team. He’s a great talent but unfortunately, he’s not joined the right club,” added Adams.

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