Birmingham City manager Wayne Rooney believes that former Manchester United target Jude Bellingham could become a “future captain of England” after Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane.
Bellingham left Borussia Dortmund in the summer and completed an £88.5m move to Real Madrid, despite fierce interest from United, Manchester City and Liverpool.
The 20-year-old English midfielder has enjoyed a scintillating start to life in the Spanish capital and made an immediate impact for Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti.
Once seen as a top target for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at United, Bellingham has scored an impressive 10 times in 10 appearances for Madrid across all competitions.
Bellingham, who impressed at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, also delivered a show-stealing performance for England in their 3-1 victory over Italy on Tuesday.
The Madrid star won the first-half penalty that Kane converted from and superbly assisted Marcus Rashford for the Three Lions’ second in the Euro 2024 qualifier.
United legend Rooney raves about Bellingham
Rooney, who left his role as DC United manager earlier this month, is now leading the English club where Bellingham first announced his name to the world.
The 37-year-old United legend has insisted that England fans must “stick with” Bellingham when his form drops, despite playing out of this world at the moment.
A former captain of England himself, Rooney insisted that Bellingham could become a future Three Lions skipper and needs to be protected going forward.
“He’s on such a good run of form and what’s important is that when [his form dips], and it will dip at some point, we don’t kill him and we get behind him and stick with him,” he said (via the Metro).
“It happens to all players and it will happen to Jude. We’ve seen it with Marcus [Rashford] and Raheem [Sterling] as well.
“Jude has got the potential to be one of, if not the best, if he carries on the way he is going, so I think we really have to support him because in my eyes he’s the future captain of England.
“We need to protect him and really look at him as the future of England. He just needs to keep [doing] what he’s doing and stay focused.
“He’s only 20 but already he has the career of a 24- or 25-year-old with the big games that he has played and the number of games he’s played.”
United missed out big time on Bellingham
Bellingham made a real name for himself during his fantastic spell at Dortmund and it was hardly surprising that an elite European club would come knocking for him.
However, it is equally frustrating that United didn’t make an earlier move for him or even splash out a hefty transfer fee to land Bellingham ahead of Madrid’s transfer.
United legend Paul Scholes was among those who called for the Red Devils to sign Bellingham, knowing full well the impact that the player could have on the team.
Rio Ferdinand echoed similar sentiments to Scholes when it came to Bellingham, with Gary Neville also arguing for his former club to sign the England star.
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