Arsenal came close to signing Jude Bellingham, claims Tony Adams

Jude Bellingham’s rise continues as the youngster has been called up to the England national team following an injury to James Ward-Prowse.

According to former Arsenal player Tony Adams, the 17-year-old should have been playing at the Emirates Stadium this season.

The immensely talented midfielder was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League in the previous summer window, with the main interest coming from Manchester United. However, he decided to join German giants Borussia Dortmund in the end.

The English footballer has already clocked 11 senior appearances at the Bundesliga side, smashing one goal and creating two assists. It appears that he made the right choice to head overseas as he has now been called up to the senior national team.

However, as per Adams, things could have been very different if the Gunners had proceeded with their original plans. The former England defender claimed that Edu Gaspar’s appointment as technical director in July 2019 put the brakes on the transfer move.

“It got lost this one in the transition of the chief scout at Arsenal going out,” He said on Sky Sports.

“He was spotted very early on by the recruitment office and the chief scout was absolutely bowled over by the great prospect that he is.

“Our new sports director Edu, coming from Brazil had no European or UK experience and it got lost.

“Unfortunately the chief scout had the deal done but we missed that one.

“He’s a great talent but unfortunately has not joined the right club!”

Arsenal managed to secure the signature of Thomas Partey in the summer, whose presence has already improved the performance of the team. Although they failed to land Houssem Aouar who ended up staying at Lyon.