Wayne Rooney told Sky Sports News on Monday that reported Liverpool target Jude Bellingham ‘looked brilliant’ in his cameo appearance for England at Euro 2020.
Even though the 17-year-old came onto the pitch for the final eight minutes of normal time, he impressed Rooney with his performance as the Three Lions began their campaign with a 1-0 win against Croatia.
It was a record-breaking appearance from the player seemingly attracting interest from the likes of Liverpool because he became the youngest ever player to feature at the Euros.
As a teenager, Rooney himself was announcing himself on the big stages and it could be argued that the Premier League legend is perhaps the only Englishman in recent times who was more talented than Bellingham is now.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that Eurosport claim that Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp have an eye on the box-to-box midfielder.
“He looked brilliant,” said Rooney. “Even though it was only for five to ten minutes, he put himself about. He was getting into tackles and winning important headers.
“So, I thought he looked really good when he came on.”
If Bellingham’s career continues to rise then it’s scary to think how far he can go over these coming years.
There’s no doubt that this will be a major tournament of many for the Dortmund superstar, who is showing maturity beyond his years and is just getting better and better.
Whether he is asked to be on the front foot and attack the opposition’s penalty area then he does that to brilliant effect.
Or whether he has to show calmness and defend his own penalty area, he then has the physicality, intelligence to sense danger and brilliant positional play to do the defensive side of the game also.
All in all, it isn’t a surprise that some of the big boys in Europe, such as Liverpool are lurking in the corner for his talents.
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