Jude Bellingham warned against Manchester United transfer by Simon Jordan, who compares Birmingham teen to Wilfried Zaha and John Bostock

The 16-year-old midfielder has been linked with a number of Europe's top clubs ahead of the summer transfer window following his impressive first-team breakthrough this season.

Bellingham - hailed as the brightest young English talent since Wayne Rooney and compared to Steven Gerrard - has made 32 Championship appearances, scoring four goals and providing three assists.

The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund have been linked with an interest in the youngster, who even made a visit to United's Carrington training ground on Monday amid claims the club have been given permission to hold talks over a transfer.

And United pulled out all the stops as they look to win the race. The young midfielder visited the Aon Training Complex on Monday with his parents and was met by Sir Alex Ferguson, the club's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and transfer chief Matt Judge.

It will take a big sum to pry the teen ace away from his boyhood club, with Birmingham said to be demanding a fee in the region of £50million.

It appears United are ready and willing to pay up, but Jordan has offered Bellingham a warning about making the step up at such a young age, citing two of his former Crystal Palace players as examples.

"I'm not sure about this," he told talkSPORT host Natalie Sawyer. "A young player of 16 years old, I know he's prodigious talent and I know people are talking about him in the same way they talked about Wayne Rooney.

"But I had a kid at Crystal Palace who was talked about in this fashion called John Bostock, who made a move to a supposedly bigger club at that time in Tottenham, against the advice of most of the sensible people around him.

"He didn't play for Harry [Redknapp], his career has gone to the left field and he's now coming back into English football with Nottingham Forest 10 or 12 years after the event."

Bostock was hailed as one of the top young talents in England during his emergence at Palace, becoming their youngest ever player when he made his first-team debut at the age of 15 in 2007.

He made just four first-team appearances before he was signed by Spurs in 2008, but failed to live up to the hype at White Hart Lane.

After playing three UEFA Cup games in his first season, the midfielder then spent four years in the cold before making another appearance. He was eventually released in 2013 after five loan spells.

After leaving Spurs, the nomadic Bostock has spent spells at Belgian clubs Royal Antwerp and OH Leuven, Turkish side Bursaspor and French outfits Lens and Toulouse. He is currently contracted to the latter but joined Nottingham Forest on loan last August.

Jordan also gave Wilfried Zaha as another example of why not to join the Red Devils at such a young age, with the Palace star eventually returning to Selhurst Park after an unsuccessful spell at Old Trafford.

The former Eagles chief added: "Look, Bellingham is a prodigious talent but making a move at 16 and going to a club like Manchester United that is in a transition period, he's unlikely to get first team football.

"Wilfried Zaha couldn't do it at 19, and this kid is 16 going into that environment.

"Whilst I understand the dynamics of it, I'm also troubled by it to some extent."

Birmingham City wonderkid Jude Bellingham has been warned over a potential move to Manchester United by former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.