When Birmingham decided in the summer of 2020 to retire the number 22 of Jude Bellingham, quite a few people in England saw this gesture as one of the most embarrassing ever in world football.
It was hard to understand how one season in the senior team was enough to give the kid this honor that is usually reserved for players who end their careers and have done a thing or two.
Granted, Bellingham made his debut at the age of 16 and 38 days, becoming the club's youngest ever player and featuring in 41 Championship games, including four goals, but that would have seemed like an overkill move.
Two years after he was sold to Dortmund for about 35 million euros, the same people who saw this move as a joke, suddenly recalculate a course and realize that perhaps Birmingham knew what they had in hand, and that this is probably the best player to come out of their youth department.
As of early October 2022, Bellingham is living the dream and emerges as one of the fittest youngsters in the world, with his future looking bright.
shiny pink.
Bellingham went straight into Dortmund's senior team when he joined and looked very mature on and off the pitch.
He scored on his Bundesliga debut and played in 29 of its 34 league games, and in a total of 46 games in the season that ended with his participation in Euro 2020. He has played 69 times so far in the German league, the most in Europe's top five leagues and 5,214 minutes - More than 1,000 from any other player under the age of 20.
Against Sevilla in the Champions League last Wednesday, photo: AP
Dortmund is indeed considered a club that gives youngsters the stage, even if they don't stand out at first, but for Bellingham, the learning curve was meteoric.
Since arriving at Single Idona Park he has made more interceptions and won more battles for the ball than any other player of his age in the world, while in terms of tackles he is second only to Eduardo Camabinga of Real Madrid.
From an offensive point of view, he is also in the top five in terms of the number of goals and assists in the same period of time (15).
This season in Dortmund he is the only player who did not miss a minute in 11 official games and in the league he has the highest score in the team.
In the loss to Cologne about two weeks ago, Bellingham received the captain's armband for the first time in the absence of Marco Reus and Mathes Hummels, which again emphasized his status and confidence in him.
"It's a dream come true," he told the Bundesliga's official website, "When I signed for this club, it's something I never thought was possible," while journalist Raphael Honigstein told the BBC: "People think it's a gimmick but he's so dominant for Dortmund. He He always made sure to sit next to the people he would learn the most from in the locker room, instead of the easy route of sitting next to other youngsters. There are many kids with similar talent, but only players with such self-discipline and professionalism will be able to do what he does."
In the uniform of the England team.
It is expected to be on the 11th in Qatar, photo: AFP
Bellingham's success of course did not go unnoticed by the coach of the England national team - Gareth Southgate, and there he began to blossom just in time for the World Cup in Qatar, in less than two months.
He finished the match against Germany (3:3) last week in the Nations League as outstanding together with Declan Rice and recorded the most accurate passes (41), the most passes in the last third (17), won more duels than any player (8) and added an assist.
"Jud has probably established his place next to Reyes in the link in the World Cup," said former player Andros Tousand, "this is a special talent that is not afraid of the size of the event and does not care who he is playing against or for whom he is playing."
Former England striker Chris Sutton added: "We need to build the team around Bellingham."
The one who meanwhile is building the team around Bellingham is his team Dortmund.
The Schwarzwald made a number of interesting moves last summer in order to be strong in the championship fight this year after 10 stagnant years in which Bayern took over the league.
The future stopper Nico Schlotterbeck came from Freiburg, Niklas Zola was stolen from Bayern and also Sebastian Haller who is currently battling cancer came from Ajax, but the one who got the stage to be the engine is Bellingham.
Will he also excel against Bayern?
Bellingham in action, photo: IPA
Unfortunately, while he is performing great, his fellow defenders are not delivering the goods for the time being, Dortmund have lost 3 times in 8 rounds, but fortunately Bayern are also unstable and they will advance to the Classic on Saturday with a similar record and a common desire to take control of the top of the table.
It is still too early to know if Bellingham will be able to carry Dortmund to the championship this year, but already, all the luxury clubs in the Premier League are already polishing their eyes for next summer when his value is estimated at 150 million euros.
"Clubs are already lining up for him," Honigstein said, "whoever misses him will feel he missed a generational talent."
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