“He’d routinely take the p**s out of them” – Troy Deeney explains what Jude Bellingham did to hard-nosed professionals at Birmingham City as a schoolboy 

Troy Deeney recently explained what Jude Bellingham used to do to the team's top professionals as a schoolboy during his time at Birmingham City.

Bellingham went up through the ranks of Birmingham City before joining Borussia Dortmund in 2020. Deeney has revealed that Bellingham used to stand out in training as a teenager.

Speaking to The Sun, he said (via GOAL):

"They did not just think Bellingham was going to be good, they simply KNEW he was going to be great. This was a kid who used to train with the first team either side of school lessons. At the age of 15, he was making hard-nosed professionals look stupid with his talent in training. He’d routinely take the p**s out of them in a way that few kids would get away with — and then casually say, ‘Right, back to school . . . I’ve got science next.'"

Deeney added that there was a pinch of humility about Bellingham's character. This, according to him, meant that he didn't rub the team's senior members in a wrong way despite getting the better of them in training.

"But there was something about young Jude’s character that meant those senior pros did not resent him being the best player in training before he’d even made his first-team debut. There was a humility, an intelligence, a respect and a thirst for knowledge which made him stand out.”

The youngster has managed to put his talent on display during the 2022 FIFA World Cup as well. He opened the scoring for England in their opening World Cup game against Iran, in a match the Three Lions won by a big margin of 6-2.

Troy Deeney said Jude Bellingham should be worth as much as Kylian Mbappe

The young England talent at a training session

The England prodigy's tenure at Borussia Dortmund looks set to end soon as several European giants, including Real Madrid and Manchester United, are interested in his services. Deeney believes the 19-year-old should be worth as much as French superstar Kylian Mbappe in the market.

“Jude is going to be England’s main man for a decade or more. Because he is playing for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, there’s been an element of Jude travelling under the radar with a lot of England fans. But this season, he has developed into a proper goal-scoring box-to-box midfielder, scoring nine times for Dortmund.

"When Jude leaves Dortmund, quite possibly next summer, most of the world’s biggest clubs are going to be interested and, for me, the bidding can start at £150 million. He is in the Kylian Mbappe bracket — as good as that.”

Bellingham has scored nine goals this season, across competitions, for Borussia, from 22 games. He has also registered three assists. The teenager has started all 15 games in the Bundesliga that he has played this season.