IAN LADYMAN: Jude Bellingham is England’s Bryan Robson. He is Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane. England have a generational talent on their hands. And he’s only 20…

Sometimes there is an awful lot of noise surrounding this England team, but none of it seems to come from the man wearing the number 10 shirt, Jude Bellingham.

It’s been a long time since the national team had a player like him, who was so precociously talented and so physically and emotionally developed at such a young age. It is worth remembering that the Real Madrid player is only 20 years old.

He doesn’t say much, Bellingham. He has a protective family and a calm and natural caution when it comes to the more unpredictable corners of the bright and shiny world he now lives in. But as for his football, it is heard all over the world.

It was interesting to see Bellingham start England’s 3-1 win over Scotland on Tuesday night in Glasgow. No one’s chest was pushed further forward than his own as the Scottish fans did their best to drown out God Save The King.

Manager Gareth Southgate later said he noticed it and took comfort in it.

He enjoyed one of his most impressive performances in an England shirt, earning the man of the match award

The 20-year-old (right) continued his good recent run of scoring form, scoring for England in the first half before setting up Harry Kane for a late goal.

Then at the end, as those same supporters went off into the night to think about a clear class division between the teams, Bellingham stood with his arms outstretched in front of the Hampden Park away section.

As for the 93 minutes of football that passed in between, they were possibly Bellingham’s best in an England shirt. He led the match from start to finish. Blue shirts bounced off him like leaves falling from a speeding train. And all along, the message was clear: everything will be fine. I’m here now. I’m in control.

And he is. It’s uplifting, exciting and also slightly nerve-wracking to watch.

The scale and speed of his progress since Southgate found himself too impervious to blood at the 2020 European Championship (held in 2021, of course) has been extraordinary. Suddenly he is the best player in England. He is Real Madrid’s best player. For Real he is Zinedine Zidane and for England Bryan Robson.

As far as his football is concerned, he is more in line with the former than the latter. He has Zidane’s ability to make a match tick to his rhythm. He sees pictures and can paint them, but he also has Robson’s natural ability to inspire and lead, more by what he does than by what he says. These are things that are not taught.

His contribution against what turned out to be a disappointingly modest Scotland team was typical. A goal in the first half and then, as the Scots sought what would have been shamefully ill-earned parity in the second, an assist for Harry Kane that took the heat out of Hampden and sucked all the optimism out of Glasgow’s early autumn air .

That moment said everything about Bellingham. Big moment, big player. The timing of it was part of its beauty, simply because it emphatically slammed the door shut in the face of opposition seeing opportunity.

The football part was great too. The strength and balance to move out of trouble into space, followed by the awareness to see Kane run from behind the centre-backs and deliver a perfect pass. These are the moments that define games and can change the direction of a team’s journey.

England will be in the spotlight next summer as they head into their fourth major tournament under Southgate. The manager now has a truly world-class player to build his attacking ideas around.

Bellingham first impressed in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. Liverpool tried to bring him to the Premier League, but he preferred Madrid. So there is a feeling among a large part of our football community that we don’t really know him. This is unlikely to be a feeling that will stick around for long.

On Tuesday, Bellingham spoke to Channel 4 after the match and was then led through the general interview area with his head bowed. It’s always the way and Southgate – who played in the Paul Gascoigne era – won’t mind that too much.

When it comes to Southgate’s dealings with the media, hardly a conversation takes place without Bellingham’s name at the center of it, and Tuesday night was no different.

As the luggage – literal and metaphorical – of another international holiday in England was loaded onto a bus behind him, Southgate said: “He’s still someone we talk to a lot, trying to help him with his game, because he’s still has continued to improve areas.

“But tonight he was great. The most important thing for me is his personality. We knew our national anthem would be booed and we talked to the players about how we could get energy from that.

“But I look at how he lined up and I know what’s coming. That’s the kind of thing that makes the difference, the mentality of the player.

Bellingham has been compared to some of the greatest midfielders to have graced the game, including Bryan Robson (left) and Zinedine Zidane (right)

Southgate (left) praised his midfielder after the match, claiming Bellingham ‘definitely has leadership qualities’

Bellingham (right) has also been in flying form for Real Madrid, having scored five in his first four games for the LaLiga giants

‘He certainly has leadership qualities. The great thing about this group is that our senior players are such good leaders and Jude is smart enough to bond with those types of characters.

“The people you hang out with, the people you associate with in life, are probably a good indicator of where you end up. He is very handy at that.

“His whole life and the way his family has cared for him has given him a great start, but there is still a lot to do.”

It wouldn’t be Southgate if it didn’t include a warning, and he’s right to include one. Likewise, the England manager knows what a generational talent he has on his hands. He knows exactly what he is and that applies just as crucially to Bellingham.

England’s new young hope is not lacking in self-awareness. In football, modesty only gets you so far.