If Paul Pogba leaves Manchester United, they should only look as far as Jude Bellingham for his replacement.
That is according to European football expert Julien Laurens. Speaking to the BBC, he said that United should look to replace Pogba with Bellingham as their immediate replacement even though he is only 18 years old.
He added that the Red Devils need to move quickly for Bellingham, or else his asking price is only going to continue to soar.
He said: “If United look for a Paul Pogba replacement, Bellingham is your guy. He is already a £100m player – even at 18.
“The longer you wait, the higher the price goes. If you wait too long, the price goes to £120-£130m.”
Earlier on he also commented about how mature the 18-year-old is, praising his conduct when he interviewed him following one of Borussia Dortmund’s game with Manchester City in the Champions League last year.
Laurens even went so far as to say that the young Englishman reminded him of Cesc Fabregas in the way he imposed himself and bossed games at such a young age.
Bellingham joined Dortmund in June 2020 from Championship side Birmingham City.
Birmingham strangely retired Bellingham’s shirt number 22 when he left the club, despite just one year in the senior side. But Bellingham had been within the Birmingham academy since aged 8 and was one of the driving factors behind them staying in the division at the end of the season.
Since then, Bellingham has established himself as a first-team regular in Germany, and looking at what he has done there it is not difficult to understand why.
The England international has six goals and 10 assists in 58 appearances for the Germans, including a goal against the aforementioned Manchester City in the Champions League last year.
Man United are in desperate need of top-quality centre midfielders, and if they do end up without the talents of Pogba then Bellingham will more than likely be on their radar for players to replace him.
However, the £100 million fee cited by Laurens could see United seek cheaper options, due to them also needing players in other areas to better balance the squad.