Jude Bellingham: From humble beginnings to shining on football's biggest stages

Jude Bellingham's accelerated emergence successful caller years has seen him go an important subordinate for some Borussia Dortmund and England and a wanted antheral for immoderate of football's biggest clubs.

Just 19, Bellingham was 1 of England's standout performers astatine past year's World Cup and arsenic helium prepares to propulsion connected the Three Lions garment again, BBC Sport charts his way from humble youngster astatine Birmingham to 1 of the astir sought aft talents successful connection football.

Jude Bellingham has been praised for not conscionable his endowment connected the pitch, but his maturity and empathy for others disconnected it

'He cried erstwhile helium near Birmingham'

When Bellingham near the Blues for Borussia Dortmund successful 2020 for £25m, becoming the astir costly 17-year-old successful the past of football, the Championship broadside were mocked by immoderate for retiring the teenager's garment number, contempt lone playing 1 afloat play of nonrecreational football.

But the quality helium is showing to the satellite now, coupled with his humble attitude, highlights conscionable wherefore helium was truthful good thought of astatine the Blues.

"He didn't privation to permission Birmingham City, helium cried," says shot writer Guillem Balague.

"Yet helium has travel retired of his comfortableness portion and has developed into a precise comfy young man."

'He wasn't funny successful football'

For idiosyncratic truthful incredibly gifted, it seemed similar helium was ever destined to go a footballer.

But arsenic a kid Bellingham was initially not that keen connected the sport.

His archetypal coach, Phil Wooldridge, remembered archetypal gathering Bellingham erstwhile helium was four.

"As soon arsenic you enactment a shot successful beforehand of him, [he was] not truly interested," helium told the BBC.

"It took a portion [for him to get into football], it wasn't conscionable overnight, it was a substance of a fewer months."

But erstwhile it clicked for Bellingham determination was nary stopping him.

He would archer his teachers and chap pupils astatine his schoolhouse that 1 time helium would play for England and, arsenic his emotion for the athletics grew, Wooldridge and Bellingham's begetter acceptable up a squad called Stourbridge Juniors which helium went connected to play regularly for.

It was determination helium caught the oculus of section nonrecreational clubs and astatine the property of 7 helium joined Birmingham City, wherever helium would enactment nether a manager who Bellingham credits with shaping him into the idiosyncratic and subordinate helium is today.

Mike Dodds, who is present a first-team manager astatine Sunderland, played a cardinal relation successful Bellingham's improvement that would pb to him making his nonrecreational debut astatine the property of 16.

"He was my champion manager educator, due to the fact that if helium wasn't blessed with a session, if helium wasn't blessed with the benignant of way that his improvement was going, helium would beryllium the archetypal idiosyncratic to fto maine cognize his thoughts," Dodds told the BBC.

"He's conscionable a magnificent quality being, you know, he's a relation model. He's got implicit empathy for radical astir him, from a quality position I haven't got capable words to benignant of praise him with."

'He's conscionable a phenomenon'

That empathy was wide to spot for the millions watching astatine past year's World Cup when, aft Harry Kane missed England's 2nd punishment that would person levelled the scores against France, Bellingham was the archetypal subordinate implicit to comfortableness the striker.

Bellingham played conscionable 1 play astatine Birmingham but was important successful helping them debar relegation to League One. The endowment and maturity helium showed connected the transportation astatine lone 17 caught the oculus of galore of the world's biggest clubs, but it was Borussia Dortmund who won the contention to motion the player.

Rather than beryllium overawed by the bigger signifier the Bundesliga giants offered, Bellingham continued to excel and successful October past twelvemonth helium made past by becoming Dortmund's youngest skipper astatine conscionable 19.

"Every clip you deliberation you've seen a afloat formed Jude Bellingham helium does thing else, thing antithetic and adds much layers to his game," German shot adept Raphael Honigstein said.

"He's conscionable a improvement and it is sometimes frightening to deliberation wherever helium mightiness beryllium astatine his premier of 26 oregon 27."

Jude Bellingham has deed treble figures for Dortmund this season

Another furniture Bellingham has added this play has been goals. In his erstwhile 2 seasons astatine Dortmund helium did not people much than six goals but already this word helium has 10, with 1 of those coming against Manchester City successful the Champions League backmost successful September.

Bellingham had besides scored against Pep Guardiola's broadside successful the quarter-finals of the contention 2 years earlier, and though Dortmund were knocked out, erstwhile Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves - moving arsenic a TV pundit for that crippled - said Bellingham stood retired supra each others.

"The kid is an implicit diamond," helium said.

"He was champion subordinate connected the transportation successful some games, against immoderate of the champion players successful the satellite and helium was inactive lone 17.

"Then the mode helium walked down the touchline and greeted maine and Rio [Ferdinand], helium did it with specified confidence, I thought that was truly special."

For anyone inactive not alert of conscionable however talented Bellingham is past they surely knew astir him aft his performances astatine his archetypal World Cup, wherever adjacent his team-mates were incapable to play down his ability.

Following different masterclass show successful the 3-0 last-16 triumph against, Senegal, Manchester City and England midfielder Phil Foden said of Bellingham: "I don't privation to large him up excessively overmuch due to the fact that helium is inactive young," earlier adding: "But he's 1 of the astir talented players I person ever seen.

"He has nary weakness successful his game. I deliberation helium volition beryllium the champion midfielder successful the world."

With Bellingham being linked with a big of Europe's biggest clubs this summer, it's wide determination are not galore who would reason against Foden's view.