Could Jude Bellingham end up making an emotional return to Birmingham City in the next seven years?
talkSPORT commentator and Birmingham fan Ian Danter thinks so, due to the England superstar’s lifelong love for the club.
Bellingham started his career with his boyhood team, making his senior debut aged 16 where he instantly becoming a star.
His incredible performances led to interest from European giants in rapid time, with Borussia Dortmund swooping in.
Dortmund signed a 17-year-old Bellingham in 2020 for a deal rising up to £22.75million – and his career exploded.
After three years in Germany and 132 appearances for the Bundesliga giants, he had Real Madrid knocking at the door.
His 24 goals and 25 assists for the club had attracted Real and they spent a whopping £88.5m to bring the Englishman to Spain.
Since then, Bellingham has shot to world stardom, becoming one of the best midfielders on the planet, winning the Champions League and now spearheading England’s run to a World Cup semi-final.
He’s done all of that by the age of 23, so what could happen to him over the next seven years?
The Prodigal Son returns?
Well, talkSPORT’s Danter thinks he could return home, saying: “I have had this bet with Andy Goldstein… I said that he’d be back at Birmingham by the time he’s 30.
“And my reason for thinking that is here we are as a club now, way beyond where we were when Jude left.
“We now have plans for a new stadium that could be completed within five years and the plan is to be a Premier League team again within five years.
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“Now, Jude saw the plans, it was part of the launch video… he was exclusively shown the plans on a trip back to St. Andrews, and his first reaction was to look at the film crew and go, wow.
“He said: ‘When’s this going to be ready?’ They said it would be about five years and he just looked into the camera, and it sort of said that he may have logged that for reference.
“It depends on how his next four or five years go as a player. He may win everything there is to win at Real Madrid and think, ‘what’s next?’
“The Prodigal Son returns? I wouldn’t bet against it at all.”
Beloved Birmingham
Bellingham was born in Stourbridge in Dudley, to the west of Birmingham, beginning his youth football in the town.
He then signed for Birmingham City at Under-8 level, going on to spend nine years in the academy system before making his debut.
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Danter and many Blues fans were already aware of the young star as he was coming through the ranks at the time.
“We’re talking 2018,” Danter started. “I was told there was this kid who’s 15 and playing for the under-23s already and he was not just playing for them, he was bossing it.
“Just like the people of Liverpool with Wayne Rooney before his goal against Arsenal for Everton, we’d heard the name.
“Fast forward a year to August 2019 and Bellingham started at Fratton Park… a lot of kids were picked that night, Portsmouth walloped us, but Jude completely stood out in terms of his swagger, confidence, ability to find other players.
“His voice on the pitch, you could see even at that age that he was a very demonstrative character.
“He then scored against Stoke and then scored against Charlton in front of the away fans and he did that outstretched arm celebration for the first time, and that’s become one of his trademarks.”
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Proving his love
That was the start of his now iconic celebration, which he now uses after every goal for Real Madrid and England.
But of course, he would leave Birmingham just a year after his debut – although even then, he showed his love for the club.
Bellingham made sure to sign a professional deal with the Blues so they could sell him for a fee when they were struggling financially, which was a decision that made a huge impact.
“That was down to him and his dad,” Danter explained. “They made sure he signed pro forms when he turned 16, so we could command a fee for him, rather than him not sign and walk away.
“But Jude and his dad’s love of the club and their desire to make sure everything was done to give the club the very best it could be, they made sure they signed pro forms.
“The club were in pretty desperate straits with the previous ownership, it was lamentable, so it’s not an exaggeration to say that the money we got for Jude was vitally important.”
