Jude Bellingham is not just a generational talent… he may well be the best of ANY generation! Both England’s bow and arrow, he looks set to better Paul Gascoigne’s brilliance and dominate the future of the game

On an evening celebrating 150 years of history, it was the future we were all talking about. Not for the next 150 years. But in Jude Bellingham’s case, certainly the next fifteen.

Think back 15 years and where you were in your life. A lifetime ago, right? That is the period in which we can still enjoy Bellingham.

The England midfielder could easily play until he is 35, at the top. He’s that good. He’s not just a ‘generational talent’ as we like to say, he’s perhaps the best of any generation.

At the age of 20, Paul Gascoigne – perhaps England’s greatest ever talent – ​​was playing for a Newcastle side that had finished 17th in the First Division and was a year off the cap. Bellingham is Real Madrid’s top scorer and has played 26 times for his country. He is both England’s bow in midfield and the arrow in attack.

Like Gascoigne, he now also has a goal against Scotland. His close-range finish at Hampden Park on Tuesday is not as iconic as Gazza’s volley at Euro 96, but the latter was the older man’s last at a major tournament. He would only score twice more for England. Bellingham is just getting started. That’s what’s really exciting.

The midfielder impressed in the win over Scotland and is playing with swagger

Like Paul Gascoigne (pictured), Bellingham has now scored a goal against the Scots

Here’s a young man at least five years past his prime, playing like he’s already the top dog in town. There’s a swagger that suggests he knows, so it’s a good thing he has the bite to justify the barking.

When I watched him play for Borussia Dortmund earlier this year, I was struck – and even disturbed – by the way he singled out senior teammates. There were sulking shoulders, flailing arms and no end of the lip. Who do you think You Are?

The answer was Jude Bellingham, Dortmund’s best player and the reason they won in Bremen that day.

Then I spoke to German winger Julian Brandt about his young colleague.

“He’s an incredible talent,” he said. ‘I like the way he plays, the way he plays football. He can be over the top at times and yell at the referee or some teammates, but this is him.

‘He’s a really good guy and we have a lot of fun with him. If you want to have dinner with him, that’s no problem. If you talk to him, he will come. If you want to have a beer with him, that’s no problem.

He may be five years late for his prime, but he’s already playing like he’s the top dog in town

On second thought, perhaps only Real Madrid was big enough to accommodate Bellingham’s aura

At Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham emerged from the mist and took charge of a man’s world

“With all the pressure he gets, all the publicity, he’s still just a boy. That makes him special to me, it’s amazing how he deals with it.’

The overriding feeling upon leaving Germany on that foggy Saturday was that I had witnessed a boy emerge from the fog to take charge of a man’s world. “Jude is the oldest 19-year-old player in the world,” his manager, Edin Terzic, told me.

They knew then that he was leaving and on reflection, Real Madrid may have been the only club big enough to cater to the aura (and ego) surrounding Bellingham. His celebration against Scotland – static, arms outstretched in a godly pose – would irritate if performed by a lesser soul.

But it said a lot that when he was substituted late in the match there was applause from some of the home fans. They too had seen a player they could enjoy for years, even if it was from a distance.

Many Scots loved and still love Gascoigne. Yes, that was because he played there, but they also recognized a brilliant football player. When it comes to Bellingham, everyone in Hampden agrees this week: Here was a prodigy who could match Gazza’s brilliance and one day better it.

One of those players graces the history of the game, the other is poised to dominate its future.