Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has urged his former club to sign Jude Bellingham after the 19-year-old starred yet again in the Champions League.
Bellingham played all 90 minutes for Borussia Dortmund as they smashed Sevilla in their third game of the group stages. He scored once and provided the assist for another in a 4-1 win that puts Dortmund in a comfortable second place in Group G.
As well as producing a man of the match display for the Bundesliga side, Bellingham also created history at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium, as he became the first English teenager to captain a team in the Champions League at only 19 years and 98 days. He has already captained Dortmund in the Bundesliga this campaign too.
His continued impressive performances for club and country have drawn the eye of several leading European sides and a bidding war for his signature is expected to commence ahead of a potential big-money switch next summer.
Liverpool and Real Madrid are considered to be the frontrunners, with Bellingham likely to move on from Dortmund as the German side eye a record transfer for an Englishman.
But Ferdinand has now called on United to enter the race, tweeting a phone emoji and tagging the Red Devils in an obvious call for them to start talks. He also hailed the England international during BT Sport's Champions League coverage.
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"We said it as soon as we saw it, what he's doing in his position, at his age, we haven't seen. The best of our generation, Lampard, Gerrard, Scholes, Vieira, Roy Keane, those guys weren't doing this," he told BT Sport.
"I'm just saying that they weren't doing this. He's still got to go on an prove it and do it over a long period of time. But they weren't doing what he is doing right now. Influencing a game at this level, captaining a team at this level.
"He's the full package and mentally, this kid's a beast. No doubts about that. One thing you have to say about him, whoever gets him, one question that won't have to be answered is the temperament.
"When you're making big transfers, the temperament is the key thing you need to get right. This kid has already proved that his temperament is not even a question mark."
Bellingham helped to get Dortmund's scoring underway in Seville just six minutes in when he sent a perfect pass out wide to Raphaël Guerreiro who fired in. He then got on the scoresheet himself when he picked up the ball inside the box, jinked past two defenders and poked the ball low into the net.
Following the dominant win for his side in Spain, he admitted that the leadership role that comes with the captaincy is one that he relishes. He also hailed his teammates for the help that they gave him.
"It comes quite naturally, to be honest. My teammates around are so experienced, so they make it quite easy. They do the majority of the work and for me it's about trying to lead by example with my performance and everything else follows," Bellingham said.
"But I play with such amazing people and players that it really makes it quite easy for me to just continue to do what I do. I'm just trying to help my team win. These nights I really enjoy it as you can see.
"Every time I step out I want to help Borussia Dortmund win the game and it helped tonight so I am really happy."
