Birmingham City’s first team wanted to lay down law with Jude Bellingham, reveals former team-mate
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‘We wanted to teach him a lesson!’: Birmingham City’s first team wanted to prevail with Jude Bellingham in his first training session, reveals his former teammate… but the England midfielder was ‘too quick and agile’ – even at 16!
Established stars of Birmingham City’s first team were revealed to have wanted to teach Jude Bellingham a ‘lesson’ when he first appeared.
The England and Borussia Dortmund midfielder’s former teammate Maikel Kieftenbeld said they wanted to show Bellingham that he was now playing at a different level, something they had a hard time doing because of his agility and speed, even at such a young age.
Bellingham became the youngest player in the Birmingham City first team at 16 years and 38 days, before becoming the youngest goalscorer at 16 years and 63 days. The club retired his shirt number when he left for Borussia Dortmund.
Birmingham City’s first team wanted to establish the law with Jude Bellingham, but soon realized just how special his talent was.
Speaking to ESPN Netherlands, Kieftenbeld revealed that some of the club’s first-team players had been upset by rumors that Bellingham had told fellow under-18 players that the senior team couldn’t handle him.
In a sign of his talent, Bellingham performed comfortably in first team training with Kieftenbeld struggling to deal with the midfielder.
“You really saw that he was very good,” he said. ‘You could really see that, not just on the pitch, because he was also very good mentally. You don’t often see that with other teen talent.
Maikel Kieftenbeld said the first-team stars couldn’t keep up with Bellingham’s speed and agility.
The precocious teenager has established himself as one of England’s most important players in Qatar
‘We played four against four, small and intensive matches. But Jude was really good. Not just on the ball, he could also dish out tackles and take away balls,’ he added.
‘We wanted to teach him a lesson and in duels (physical, ed.) tackle, but he was too fast and agile. Those rare times when someone did manage to knock him down, he just got up and kept playing without batting an eyelash.
Bellingham’s off-field demeanor has been praised by all close to him, with a common line about the midfielder that he is more mature than his younger years.
Kieftenbeld echoed this sentiment, saying it was obvious from an early age that he was different, while crediting Birmingham City for keeping their feet on the ground.
Some think Bellingham holds the key to England’s chances against France.
‘He acted when he was 17 years old. Very smart to play matches every four days and dodge tackles in the Championship,β she said.
βHe kept himself very neat and respectful. I see the World Cup with more pride. Jude has many qualities, but he also has the goodwill factor.
He also has a lot of contact with the people who guided him at Birmingham City. That typifies his character.
He added that Bellingham opting to join Borussia Dortmund rather than pursue Premier League riches, valuing his development over money, was a sign of the type of player and person he was.
Bellingham is set to retain his starting job as England try to dethrone world champions France and reach a second successive World Cup final.