How Chelsea used ‘Fifa reel’ ploy to persuade Jude Bellingham to sign for them in move ‘different to every other club’
CHELSEA used a unique approach to try and persuade a teenage Jude Bellingham to join the club.
A former Blues scout has revealed how the club used a “Fifa reel” ploy in a bid to be “different to every other club”.
Bellingham emerged as a target for Chelsea as he progressed through the academy at Birmingham.
However, they faced competition from a host of European giants, with interest only increasing once Bellingham made his first-team debut.
Former scout Yousuf Saijad has now revealed details of Chelsea’s failed pursuit of the midfielder.
He told Rising Ballers’ YouTube channel: “We had a really good scouting team that worked across the top players, like Jude Bellingham for example, who was probably the most work I’ve ever done on a player in that season that we tried to sign Jude.
“We had reports on him from when he was an Under-12 and all the way up to Under-16 when he was Birmingham.
“We had like 62 reports from 25 different scouts and so when we got to a point where we felt like we wanted to sign him it was about how can we make what we present to him different from every other top club?
“So we had all of the content that we needed from Under-12 to Under-16 from a reporting perspective so let’s try and create trends on what’s stayed the same for him as a player – such as his celebration – but at the same time pick up what he has developed and what he still needs to develop.
“We then attached that with footage and had a real long video of him playing at 12, 13, 14 and all the way up and highlighting those traits and then at the end we’d put him on a FIFA reel in a Chelsea kit and trying to think outside the box really.
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“I spent a lot of my time on the end part where we were making decisions, presenting that information to players, collecting information and making it as unique as possible to get a deal over the line.
“He was always on our radar from the moment I joined as a top talent to keep an eye on.
“Of course in terms of recruiting he was outside of distance at the younger ages but got to Under-14 and we had a full-time schools programme so it was easier at the time but he didn’t want to move.
“We just continuously followed him. He was always a player who we rated highly and was always on our radar.”
Bellingham joined Birmingham as an under-8 in 2010 before making his debut aged 16.
He remains both the club’s youngest ever player and scorer, with Birmingham even retiring his number 22 shirt.
However, despite Chelsea’s best efforts, Bellingham completed a £25million move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020 after just a single season in the first-team at St. Andrew’s.
The England international spent three years in Germany before becoming the most expensive British footballer of all-time last summer.
Since his £115million move to Real Madrid, the 20-year-old has scored 21 goals and provided 10 assists from midfield.
Bellingham is even the current favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.