sport news MICAH RICHARDS: Brilliant Jude Bellingham simply must play for England. His ... trends now
It was April 2021 when I first wrote about Jude Bellingham on these pages. I had seen him in action a few days earlier, for Borussia Dortmund against Manchester City in a Champions League quarter-final first leg, and had been blown away.
The argument I made about Bellingham was the need for time. He was 17, clearly going places quickly, but I was concerned about expectation being thrust on his young shoulders and I didn't want a clamour to start about him being central to England's ambitions at the European Championship.
'If it was me, I would leave him out of the squad,' I stated. 'This lad has his whole career in front of him and taking things slowly now could have spectacular results. Let him blossom and, in the end, something special could happen.'
Bellingham ended up making the Euro 2020 squad but he was conservatively and sensibly handled by Gareth Southgate, who gave him three substitute appearances along the way to the final — eight minutes against Croatia and 22 minutes against the Czech Republic in the group stage, and 25 minutes against Ukraine in the last eight.
Young star Jude Bellingham must play for England, after being used sporadically so far
Here we are 18 months later from that column and, again, I have just seen Bellingham play for Borussia Dortmund against Manchester City in the Champions League.
This time my argument is a lot more straightforward: play him.
I still have to do a double-take when I look at his age. He is 19 and running midfields in games of the highest standards.
When I was 19 in the England squad, I was trying to find my feet and not look like a startled rabbit but this kid is just unbelievable.
It wasn't just his goal — the way he arrived to instinctively head in — against City that made him stand out. It was the manner in which he was shouting at people, ordering them about and demanding the best from them, with his intelligence and fearlessness.
Despite his young age, he's proven himself to be an unbelievable player for Borussia Dortmund
No longer are the words 'could be' appropriate when discussing him. There is no 'could be' about it — Jude Bellingham is already unbelievable and he is going to be at the heart of this England team for years to come, and I can't wait to see his progress.
This is his time. I have no doubts at all that he will be central to Southgate's plans in Qatar — not just in his squad but his starting line-up for the opening match against Iran — and these two Nations League ties against Italy and Germany are the perfect opportunity to see him flourish.
I can understand why Liverpool were so heavily linked with him this summer and why Jurgen Klopp reportedly is a huge admirer — there will no doubt be huge interest in every transfer window from now on.
He is special and you could see him playing for any team — whether it is Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid or whoever.
Let's all hope that his progress for club and country is as outstanding as we believe it can be.
Bellingham has been heavily linked with a move to the Premier League, particularly Liverpool
Gareth missing trick with Maddison snub
James Maddison's England career amounts to just 34 minutes in a 7-0 win over Montenegro in November 2019.
It has been almost three years since he last represented his country but there is no sign that his exile will end any time soon.
That is such a shame. I would have loved to have seen him in this latest squad, for the games against Italy and Germany, and I believe the Leicester midfielder has been playing well enough to be included in the group Gareth Southgate selected.
Leicester were defeated 6-2 by Tottenham last Saturday but Maddison could not have done any more to turn things Leicester's way — scoring the goal just before half-time that drew them level.
He played as he always does, with fearlessness and invention, and that's hard to do in a struggling team.
