Chelsea spent four years building 62 reports in an attempt to sign Jude Bellingham as a teenager, only for him to move elsewhere.
Bellingham is one of the best players in world football following a stunning season at Real Madrid and that potential was clear for all to see from a young age.
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Playing in the academy side at Birmingham City, Bellingham had all of England's top sides queuing to grab his signature, with the west London side one of the main contenders.
Yousuf Sajjad was one of the main scouts tasked with monitoring Bellingham at Stamford Bridge - a scout who went on to work with Arsenal before becoming technical director with Dutch side FC Den Bosch.
But according to Sajjad, it was Bellingham who was the player whom he spent most time assessing in his career as he tried to bring him to Chelsea.
Speaking on the Rising Ballers YouTube channel, Sajjad said: “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.
READ MORE ON JUDE BELLINGHAM
“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.
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NFL legend Tom Brady celebrates with Real Madrid players in dressing room after their El Clasico win over Barcelona whilst wearing a Birmingham City badge near Jude Bellingham
“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."
Asked why he didn't sign for Chelsea, Sajjad said: "It was a time when there wasn’t a pathway. There wasn’t many examples at that point where he could say this would be a good move for me to join.
“To be fair, you understand it in the end because he obviously chose the right path for himself because of what he’s doing now, but at the time we had Tino Anjorin who was flying at the time, Mason Mount and players in and around his position that were also of a real good level.
“It wasn’t that he didn’t want to come in and compete but more just thinking at the time ‘if they’re not making it at this point then maybe I need to pick a different option’.”
Of course Bellingham eventually signed for Borussia Dortmund at the age of 17 before making 132 appearances for the club.
He then join Real Madrid for £88.5million and has since become an integral part of the team, scoring 21 goals so far in his debut season.