BELLINGHAM, 17, CAN MIX IT WITH THE VERY BEST
JUDE BELLINGHAM was 13 when the Football Association sat him down to map out his future. The kid from Stourbridge was to join England’s Under 15s early. Very few do that. Two years younger than some contemporaries, England ignored his build and just wanted him to play. The message was not to worry about making mistakes or struggling physically. The national team saw the midfielder had something a little different and wanted him in the system as quickly as possible. That decision has not gone too badly so far. The startling aspect of Bellingham’s sharp rise is that the conversation with England’s development coaches at St George’s Park alongside his family was not that long ago. Still only 17 and a full international. A Champions League regular. He was Borussia Dortmund’s best player at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg and the strike last night belied his years. So calm inside the Manchester City box. Unflustered by markers, a quick shuffle of the feet. As if nobody else mattered, he guided the ball towards Ederson’s top corner and it looked all so natural. You would not have known it was his first goal in Europe — the youngest Englishman ever to net in the competition. Dortmund’s interim coach, Edin Terzic, has had no qualms in continuing to start him over the past two months, last night his seventh in succession. ‘He’s prepared himself for this,’ Terzic said. ‘It’s special for a boy of 17 to play every three days.’ The most impressive aspect of all this is the position he plays. Plenty of teenagers can flourish in wide areas, or up front, but there is no hiding place when plonked in the middle of midfield. Not content with giving his team the lead, Bellingham made a crucial intervention at the other end, a goal-saving clearance off the line from Riyad Mahrez. The block was just as intelligent as the goal from a positional sense. Here is an all-action midfielder, more than capable of affecting proceedings in either box. Smart on the ball, niggly off it, happy to mix it physically, covers an incredible amount of ground: Bellingham has the lot.