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 national team saw the midfielder had something a little different and wanted him in the system as quickly as possible. That decision is not looking bad now. Bellingham’s rise has been sharp and startling. 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. 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 to net in the competition. Dortmund interim coach Edin Terzic has had no qualms about picking him over the past two months. Last night was his seventh start in succession. ‘The only thing we don’t know about Jude is his limit,’ Terzic said last night. ‘He wants to improve. We are going to try to push him to his limit. Tonight the whole world saw what he can do.’ 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 (below) made a crucial intervention at the other end, a 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.