Jude Bellingham is now a candidate for the England armband after being tipped for stardom at just 13 years of age.
That is according to former Premier League boss Harry Redknapp, who saw the early years of the midfielder’s development up close at Brimingham. The now 77-year-old was at St Andrews as Bellingham was making waves within the Blues’ youth sides.
It would only be another two years for Bellingham to wait for his first-team debut at St Andrews. He replaced the great Trevor Francis as the club’s youngest-ever player.
Since then, it has been a meteoric rise for Bellingham, who has jumped from Birmingham to Borussia Dortmund and is now lifting Champions League titles with Real Madrid. Even in the early days, there was talk of how special he could really be.
Speaking to Mirror Football , Redknapp said: “Yeah the whispers were there all the time about him about this kid that was so special and what a talent he was. And he is fantastic.
“He’s such a class guy. He’s got a lovely family. His brother’s [Jobe Bellingham] a good player. Just a great story. His dad was a real good lower league player in the Midlands, goal scoring machine. The boys are a credit to the family. He’s a special player, he’s fantastic.”
Away from his club career - that has surpassed even the loftiest of predictions - Bellingham has already established himself in the England side. At just 20, he has 29 caps for the Three Lions and is already seen as a leader within the group.
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Redknapp sees that continuing at Euro 2024 in Germany. He has tipped Bellingham to battle Arsenal ’s Declan Rice for the captain’s armband once Harry Kane passes on the mantle.
The former Spurs boss added: “He’ll be massive. What a player he’s been at Real Madrid, winning Champions Leagues. He’s a leader.
“A big question in a few years time is going to be who’s going to be the captain of that England team, Rice or Bellingham. That’s going to be an interesting one for a manager.
“They’re both great characters and great lads. It’s a difficult one. It’s going to be a real difficult one for whoever the England manager is to make that decision.”
While Redknapp heard rumours of Bellingham’s potential, the same cannot quite be said of England’s current captain Kane. The striker played under Redknapp during his early years at Spurs.
Kane was given his debut by Redknapp ahead of a series of loans. Redknapp has since admitted he did not foresee his stunning career, including becoming England’s record goalscorer.
“Harry was a good player, we liked him,” Redknapp admitted. “I loaned him out, he didn’t get picked. Loaned him to Norwich, spent most of the time on the bench. Went to Leyton Orient, one of his first loans.
“I loaned him out to get experience. I gave him his debut in the UEFA Cup. We had hopes that he was going to be a Premier League player, we thought he would be. But we didn’t see him becoming the best centre-forward in the world, no, I’d be a liar if I sat here and said yeah I did.
“I saw Rio Ferdinand at 16 thinking he’d become one of the all-time central defenders which he did but I couldn’t say I sat there and thought Harry Kane was going to become one of the best forwards in the world.”
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