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Arsenal’s former lead scout Francis Cagigao has spoken out about how the club missed out on signing Borussia Dortmund man Jude Bellingham.
THE LOWDOWN: WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Bellingham is considered one of the best midfield talents to come out of England in the past few generations. After his breakthrough to the Birmingham City senior team in 2018 at the age of 16, he was already tipped for greatness.
Like with a lot of current football talents, Arsenal were one of the first to identify the young man’s talents. And like with many other talents, the Gunners made a decision against signing Bellingham, allowing Borussia Dortmund to take him for £20 million months later.
Francis Cagigao, currently the sporting director of the Chile football association, made this known to the media in a recent chat about his time as Arsenal’s lead scout.
THE LATEST: WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
“I saw him for the first time when he was 16 years old,” the current Chile sporting director told AS.
“I wanted to sign him for Arsenal, but he was already too expensive.”
Bellingham, now 19, has now risen to incredible heights playing for Borussia Dortmund. He has captained the German side on a few occasions and is one of the leaders of the team.
THE VERDICT: OUT OF REACH
Bellingham is expected to leave Germany in the near future and to command the biggest transfer fee ever paid for a British player. There are a host of clubs already lined up for his signature including Real Madrid and Liverpool but Arsenal have been reported to be monitoring the situation.
Arsenal and Bellingham may be far away from each other in terms of the feasibility of the transfer. However, Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo are options that they still have and are willing to pursue in the summer, per existing reports.
