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Birmingham City would commit a grievous error by offloading this 16-year-old academy gem – Here is why

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Why Birmingham City should hold on to Jude Bellingham at all costs

According to The Sun, Bayern Munich have been credited with an interest in Birmingham City starlet Jude Bellingham, with the report suggesting that the Bavarian giants have the teenage sensation high on their shopping list. 

The 16-year-old academy product has enjoyed a sensational breakthrough season at St. Andrew’s this term and has already netted twice in six appearances thus far. 

Born in Stourbridge, Bellingham joined Birmingham City at the Under-8 level and made rapid progress through the ranks to make his debut for the Blues’ U-23 side in 2018 before becoming the youngest ever senior debutant in the club’s history when he made his professional bow against Portsmouth in the EFL Cup back in August. 

The talented teenager hasn’t looked back since then and his stocks are currently soaring sky-high after a string of impressive performances in the Championship. Despite Birmingham’s lacklustre start to the campaign, Bellingham’s rich vein of form has sent scouts flocking to St. Andrew’s to see him in action. 

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Bellingham made his league debut as a substitute in the Blues’ 3-0 defeat away at Swansea City before setting the stage on fire with an impressive display off the bench against Stoke City, as the teenager bagged his first goal to help his club complete a remarkable comeback victory over the Potters. 

The 16-year-old’s heroics against Stoke earned him his first league start in the following game away at Charlton Athletic and he continued his meteoric rise, scoring the only goal in the game to propel the Blues to a 1-0 victory. 

And the youngster’s stellar run of form in his breakthrough season hasn’t eluded the eyes of some of the top clubs in Europe, with Bayern Munich looking at him as their next big recruit from English football after former Arsenal man Serge Gnabry absolutely demolished Spurs 7-2 in the Champions League. 

Jadon Sancho’s grand raging success at Borussia Dortmund has prompted several other Bristish-based youngsters to move to the Bundesliga in search of more regular minutes, with Rabbi Motondo and Ademola Lookman amongst those to have recently followed the England international’s footsteps.

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That Bellingham has made a seamless transition from the academy ranks to the senior men’s football at the tender age of 16 speaks volumes of his prodigious talent and vast potential. 

The 16-year-old has largely been used as an impact player off the bench by manager Pep Clotet but he might soon nail down a regular starting role in the near future if he continues to impress.  

However, links with Bayern Munich suggest that the 16-year-old might not get the chance to push on and fulfil his promise at his boyhood club.

Birmingham City are in the Championship and they are likely to find it extremely difficult to hold on to their prized asset should the Bundesliga winners come knocking for his services with an official bid. 

To that end, though, the best possible option for the Blues would be to slap a huge price tag on the teenager’s head to ward off interest. Although Bayern are genuinely interested in the youngster, they might be taken aback if Birmingham City slap a seven-figure or an eight-figure asking price to part ways with the jet-heeled winger. 

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Early signs suggest that Jude Bellingham has all that it takes to evolve into a future star and the Blues need to keep hold of their academy starlets if they are to build a formidable team under Clotet and eventually challenge for promotion, something that has eluded them for a long time. 

That said, Birmingham City should try to do everything in their power to hold on to their prized asset, as losing him so early in his career would be a real shame.