In 2019 heading into 2020, a young Jude Bellingham clearly had the world at his feet and European football's biggest clubs were queuing up to persuade him to join their team.
Manchester United were one of those interested in his services and they pulled out all the stops to try to get him to join. The teenage midfielder even toured Carrington with his family and met club legends who set out the United vision and philosophy.
Despite the Reds dropping off from where they once were, the argument put to Bellingham must have been fairly convincing. United have a history of putting their faith in youngsters since Sir Alex Ferguson debuted the Class of '92.
In the present day, Alejandro Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo and Amad have established themselves as key players for the Reds. However, the charm offensive did not do the trick and instead Bellingham chose to move to Borussia Dortmund where he developed into a superstar before becoming a Galactico.
Meanwhile, his younger brother Jobe Bellingham was forging his own path in football. Another product of the Birmingham City academy, the teenager decided to ditch the surname on his shirt to avoid unfair comparisons to his sibling and made what appeared to be a sideways move to join Sunderland.
His switch to the Stadium of Light paid dividends as Birmingham dropped out of the Championship last season and Sunderland continued to battle at the top of the second tier. Bellingham has since become a regular for the Black Cats but his time in the North East appears to be coming to an end.
United have once again been linked with a Bellingham brother and, once again, a move to Germany looks set to beat their offer at this stage. Reports in Germany suggest that RB Leipzig are pushing hard to sign the midfielder and initial talks have been held between player and club.
The Reds will be desperate not to miss out on another star in the making but their bargaining position is even weaker now than it was when they tried to sign Jude. United are likely to be out of Europe next season and while Jobe could be a ready-made replacement for Christian Eriksen, they may struggle to convince him they will get the playing time he wants.
If Bellingham was to sign for Leipzig and perform well, United will be priced out of his signature in the future so it is vital that the Reds get the deal done this summer while he is still affordable.
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