'I was there when Jude Bellingham first emerged – what he did was f***ing frightening'

Jude Bellingham deed the crushed moving aft making his debut for boyhood Birmingham City, and a erstwhile skipper of the nine was terrified of what helium was to become

Former Birmingham City skipper Harlee Dean couldn't judge the earthy endowment Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham showed during his aboriginal days astatine St Andrew's.

After moving from hometown Stourbridge Juniors to play for the Blues' academy sides, Bellingham was always fast-tracked successful progression. At 14, helium was an under-18 regular; astatine 15, the under-23's witnessed his talent.

It became an inevitability that the midfielder would one-day breakthrough, and that sliding-door infinitesimal came against Stoke City successful 2019. As a first-half substitute, Bellingham completed his side's comeback, scoring the 2nd extremity successful a 2-1 location triumph - becoming the Blues' youngest goalscorer to date.

However, specified prowess was not ever evident to defender Dean, who, contempt being initially sceptical of the youngster, has opened up astir what a frightening endowment helium developed into - and however humble helium remained each the while.

"He travel up arsenic a kid, and I'll beryllium honest, I didn't marque overmuch of him - we had a fewer kids coming up," Dean began, speaking to the Under The Cosh podcast. "We had capable problems, it was the past happening I had to interest astir was whether this kid was immoderate good. It was conscionable astir staying up each year.

"The 1 happening I tin retrieve is erstwhile he's made his debut, it was Stoke astatine home, and I deliberation idiosyncratic went disconnected injured aboriginal doors, and we looked over, and I've seen they're bringing Jude on, and I'm like, 'F*****g hell, we don't request this now.'

"[He's] 16 maybe, similar conscionable – 'We don't request this close now, we request idiosyncratic who I cognize that we tin trust,' but however incorrect was I? The kid came on, that was it. F*****g scored, and past conscionable ne'er looked backmost from there."

Bellingham's broadside called upon the 16-year-old aft fractional an hour, but it would instrumentality until conscionable earlier the 60-minute people for either broadside to people - Stoke taking a 1-0 distant lead. Yet, aft a 73rd-minute leveller, the starlet's deflected onslaught would seal each 3 points and his future.

"Every time successful training, if you had connected your team, you won," Dean reminisced. "The champion subordinate each day, but conscionable truthful humble with it arsenic well. He would nutmeg you, instrumentality it astir six people, enactment it successful apical bins and past didn't wanna grin oregon observe oregon springiness it big. He'd conscionable spell and bash it again, and that was it. F*****g frightening.

"If you smashed him, he's smash you back; I f*****g loved it. I loved it. I loved everything that helium stood for but ne'er thought it would travel to beryllium what he's been. You can't, tin you? How bash you know? I deliberation without his mindset and stuff, helium wouldn't person been that. But, yeah, different, antithetic player."

The evidently prodigious Bellingham would play successful yellowish conscionable 1 twelvemonth aft his extremity versus Stoke, signing for Borussia Dortmund. Now, helium is 1 of England's brightest stars and remains a talismanic fig for Real Madrid - who look Premier League leaders Liverpool connected Wednesday evening.

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