On Feb. 17, when Bellingham waited for an interview with British media in the interview area of The Iduine Park in Signa, his disappointment was palpable. Although the midfielder was instrumental in helping their team return to Europe after the winter break, they were beaten 4-2 at home by Rangers under bland performances, which dashed their hopes of winning the Europa League. "We didn't take that chance," Bellingham began to tell the media, "but there's a little bit of hope because there's a second leg left and no one in the dressing room is going to give up because I'm not going to let them give up." The video quickly spread and fans were amazed at the leadership shown by an 18-year-old in the dressing room of one of Europe's top clubs.
The term "future Captain England" is a recurring theme among Three Lions supporters who post it simultaneously on their own social media, and there will be plenty of current and former professionals likely to respond to the thoughts. While Bellingham's drive to win and willingness to never suppress his emotions could get him in trouble — either his own teammate, who reportedly said dirty things about teammate Schultz in the second leg. Either against the FA, last December, he questioned the referee's integrity and fined him 40,000 euros for it because referee Felix Zwayer had previously been linked to match-fixing. It's a performance he's been confident about since his debut as a rising star in Birmingham.
Borussia Dortmund's chief scout Marcus Pilava said in an interview: "When I first saw him play for birmingham U23, he was still relatively light, at best in average physical condition. So he stood out not because of his physical fitness, but because he was the captain and had exuded on the pitch the sense of responsibility that we see now. This is probably the first of many highly regarded reviews Bellingham has received. Bellingham has broken numerous records in club and international competitions and has been named the best rookie in the Bundesliga in 2020-21.
Bellingham received global acclaim in stark contrast to his early experience living in the town of Stollbridge, about 15 miles from birmingham city centre. It was there that Birmingham discovered a U8-caliber player and developed his self for success and better. Once at Birmingham's Academy, he will stay behind after training to hone his skills and ask the coach to let him play in different positions during the game to improve his overall level. At the age of 14, he played for the club's U18 and just a month after his 16th birthday, coach Pep Klotter made his first-team debut, making him the youngest player in Birmingham history. A few weeks later, he added the youngest goalscorer in the team's history to his resume.
Mike Dodd, head of programme at Birmingham's career development stages, said in an interview: "When he started playing in the first team, he adapted quickly because the players recognised good players. If you get into a first-team environment and you're a good player, then you're respected. I think once he gets his chance in the first team, the players think 'this boy is good' and that's why he adapts so well. When they saw that they could trust him, they forgot his age. He just became another player. Once you can both be a good player and trust them, then age becomes irrelevant. When you put players of that age in that environment, they will surprise you. ”
Surprising his coaches and opponents' coaches is exactly what Bellingham started doing, making 44 appearances in the first team in 2019-20, scoring four goals in the Championship and becoming a high-profile supernova. "In my opinion, he has to try to be the most well-rounded player in this game," Kloat told the media after that game, the Spaniard had left the club a few weeks ago, "he has everything he can do." As a player, he can touch the sky – he has no limits. "That's what he's going to start learning at the biggest club in Europe. In fact, given his performances in England's age groups over the years, he has been on the radar of many big clubs, as Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona have all expressed their interest to Birmingham before Bellingham made their debut. Arsenal and United also joined the chasers as the season progressed, but Borussia Dortmund won the game for €25 million to buy a player they had tracked down for the best player in three years.
Pilava said: "At the end of 2017 he caught our eye as a member of the England Under-15 national team and three months later we followed him again in other national team matches. There, the good impression he left for us was amply confirmed and we saw him get better. Since then, things have gone their own way. We were among the first people to reach out to him and we wanted to get him on his 16th birthday, when he was still a skinny player. We already believed in him by then, not just when he was in the tournament. We have built a good relationship of trust with his family, the management of his team and him. We gave him a clear plan about his strengths and weaknesses, where and how we think he fits in, and why his situation is right for us, and the composition of our midfield. ”
"We told him: 'In terms of the quality of the players, you're going to have a lot of competition, but your advantage is that we don't have players like you in the squad, so you're definitely going to have time to play with us.' In Birmingham, he was also used on the right wing and the Number 9 and a half. But we told him: 'You're not our No. 6 player or winger, you're obviously our No. 8 player.' In the end, it was a very tough game because the competition for him was very fierce. Jokes of criticism and mockery rained down on the player and his boyhood team, but Birmingham knew: the greatest talent the club has ever nurtured, and perhaps one day he will be – if he hasn't already – considered the best player ever to wear a blue jersey, having just left St Andrew's Stadium. Bellingham scored in his debut at Borussia Dortmund and became the club's youngest goalscorer. It was the first of 45 games in his first season in the top flight.
"We have reason to believe he will have enough playing time in his first year. But I admit we don't know how confidently he will be handling his situation," Pilava explained, "with the coronavirus, the grueling Championship season until the end of July, and the mental pressure of the battle for relegation with Birmingham." He only had seven days off and then came here, no holidays, and a little bit of pressure on transfer fees. So there may be problems at the beginning of the season, but he also surprised us. We wanted to give him more rest, but he didn't. His mind was very clear, his personality was very strong, and in the end his development was hardly surprising. However, initially I thought he would only be fully committed in the second half of the season. ”
10 of those games were champions league games, and his performance in the quarter-finals against Manchester City showed the British audience how well he was doing in his hometown. "I can't believe it, maybe he's a liar!" Guardiola exclaimed when asked about Bellingham's performance against his side, "He was very good at 17, he was a fantastic player. At one point he didn't receive the ball in the hands of a centre-back, he shouted at the age of 17 and asked to pass the ball to him, which meant a lot for his growth. ”
As a member of the England squad, Bellingham became the youngest player ever to play in the final when they reached the Final of the European Championship in 2020. But he was clearly not the "skinny player" Pilava first sought out four years ago, he is now a physically strong man who took his game to the next level in the 2021-22 season. He has completed his best ever scoring season, with double-digit assists in all competitions over the next two months. He scored his first Bundesliga goal of the season against Bielefeld in October and has a good working relationship with Haaland, a picture that some of the top clubs from the european continent are hoping to replicate on their own stadiums in the coming years.
The exact location of Bellingham's next stop remains to be discussed. Liverpool are often linked to him and all his technical styles are in line with Klopp's requirements for players; Chelsea are interested in signing him in the summer of 2021; Manchester United hope Bellingham will follow the same path as Sancho, from the Bundesliga to Old Trafford. Red Devils legend Leo Ferdinand has described the teenager as a "future Ballon d'Or winner" and there will certainly be teams on the continent desperately looking for talented players like Bellingham to join them. However, whether they will be able to compete financially with the biggest and best teams in the Premier League is unlikely. Either way, Bellingham has the ability and confidence to deliver on his promise of playing for three seasons on a team. He will not give up climbing to the top. He won't let go of his own.