Frank Lampard has revealed that during his tenure as Chelsea's manager, the club declined to approve a £20 million transfer deal for Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham.

Lampard, a Chelsea legend, assumed the managerial role at Stamford Bridge in 2019, marking his first managerial stint with the London club.

During his time as manager, Lampard expressed a keen interest in acquiring Bellingham, the English international who was just beginning to make a name for himself at Birmingham.

However, the Chelsea board turned down the proposal, expressing concerns about the hefty price tag of more than £20 million ($25 million) for a teenager who had yet to gain significant experience at the highest level.

"When I was managing at Chelsea for the first time, I was desperate to bring Jude Bellingham in," Lampard revealed during a chat on the Obi One Podcast.

"But I couldn't get it through upstairs—the idea of paying £20 million for someone his age (at the time)".

Following this, there were reports of Manchester United expressing interest in Bellingham, and the legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson personally escorted him on a tour during a visit to the club's Carrington training complex.

This ignited a competition between Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund for Bellingham's signature, with Dortmund ultimately securing the acquisition of this young talent.

Bellingham subsequently made 132 appearances for the Bundesliga outfit before his sensational summer transfer to Real Madrid in a staggering €131 million (£114 million/$138 million) deal.

He has already achieved remarkable success, with an impressive record of 13 goals in 14 appearances for Los Blancos and the honour of winning the Kopa Trophy as the best U21 player of the 2022–23 season.

The question now looms as to whether Bellingham will be available for Real's upcoming match, as he had a recent scare with a shoulder injury against Rayo Vallecano.

Carlo Ancelotti's team is scheduled to face SC Braga in the Champions League on Wednesday, November 8.