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Manchester United have made a substantial offer to Birmingham City for England youth international Jude Bellingham as the English Premier League club attempts to broaden Ole Gunnar Solskjaer 's midfield options in the winter window.

According to a source at the Championship club, United's offer for Bellingham would guarantee £25million for a midfielder who has been a regular in their starting line-up since becoming Birmingham's younger ever first-team player in August at 16 years and 38 days. Bellingham's performances have attracted scouts from across Europe, with Arsenal also understood to hold a strong interest in securing his signature.

United have focused recruitment efforts on younger, UK-born footballers as part of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward's much-heralded “cultural reboot” of the club. Record transfer fees were invested in relatively inexperienced English defenders Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the summer window, while 21-year-old Wales forward was signed from Swansea City.

Newcastle United resisted Woodward's efforts to recruit Sean Longstaff; and an approach was made to Leicester City playmaker James Maddison. The Daily Record understands that United have also unsuccessfully tested Aston Villa's determination to retain Jack Grealish in recent weeks.

(Image: TIM EASTHOPE/BIRMINGHAM MAIL)

The offer for Bellingham has run alongside United's attempt to recruit Bruno Fernandes from Sporting. The two clubs have been trying to structure a deal that would satisfy Sporting's €75m valuation of the Portugal international since meeting in United's London offices one week ago, but have been frustrated by the refusal of Old Trafford squad players such as Marcos Rojo and Angel Gomes to be rolled into the deal.

On Thursday, Sporting president Frederico Varandas informed Bruno that United's cash offer of €50m plus €30m of performance-related variables was unacceptable to the Lisbon club. Varandas argued that bonuses dependent on United winning the Premier and Champions League, and Bruno's success at the annual Ballon d'Or awards ceremony were unlikely to be achieved, rendering the effective value of the offer as less than the €45m plus €20m of variables proposed by Tottenham in August.

According to a source close to the player, Bruno told Varandas that he was not prepared to lose the opportunity to become a Premier League player for a second consecutive window, placing pressure on Sporting's president to conclude a revised deal with with United today. The 25-year-old has already agreed personal terms with the English club.

United's pursuit of Bellingham is expected to be depend on convincing the 16-year-old that the troubled Premier League club is the best place to develop his career. Player and father are understood to have resisted attempts by agents to sign Bellingham as a client, and are said to be conscious that poorly timed moves to England's more affluent clubs have set back the careers of other coveted youth internationals.

* For further analysis of Manchester United's transfer strategy please listen to the latest edition of The Transfer Window podcast here: https://play.acast.com/s/thetransferwindow