'I played with Jude Bellingham – I know what his attitude was really like behind scenes'

Ex-Birmingham City captain Harlee Dean has recalled the humble attitude of Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham during his time at St Andrew’s. Having joined the Blues at under-8 level, Bellingham shot up through the ranks and made his first-team debut at 16 years, 38 days – becoming the club’s youngest-ever player when starting against Portsmouth in the EFL Cup.

Yet, it was his home debut – in which he came on as a first-half substitute to score the winner in a 2-1 comeback versus Stoke City – which former captain Dean cited as the sliding doors moment for young Bellingham.

The long-time Birmingham and Brentford defender revealed his awe at not just the skill a teenage Bellingham held in abundance, but his honest and humble attitude behind the scenes.

“He come up as a kid, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t make much of him – we had a few kids coming up,” Dean began, speaking on the Under The Cosh podcast. “We had enough problems, it was the last thing I had to worry about was whether this kid was any good. It was just about staying up each year.

“The one thing I can remember is when he’s made his debut, it was Stoke at home, and I think someone went off injured early doors, and we looked over, and I’ve seen they’re bringing Jude on, and I’m like, ‘F*****g hell, we don’t need this now.’

“[He’s] 16 maybe, like just – ‘We don’t need this right now, we need someone who I know that we can trust,’ but how wrong was I? The kid came on, that was it. F*****g scored, and then just never looked back from there.”

Bellingham’s Blues conceded the first goal of his home debut tie on 58 minutes, but, with the match levelled after 73, a slightly fortuitously deflected shot from the then-16-year-old midfielder sealed his title as the youngest-ever Birmingham City goal scorer.

“Every day in training, if you had on your team, you won,” Dean added. “The best player every day, but just so humble with it as well. He would nutmeg you, take it around six people, put it in top bins and then didn’t wanna smile or celebrate or give it big. He’d just go and do it again, and that was it. F*****g frightening.

“If you smashed him, he’s smash you back; I f*****g loved it. I loved it. I loved everything that he stood for but never never thought it would come to be what he’s been.

“You can’t, can you? How do you know? I think without his mindset and stuff, he wouldn’t have been that. But, yeah, different, different player.”

Just a year after his goal against Stoke, Bellingham was a Borussia Dortmund player. Fast-forward to 2024, and the midfielder is not just a talisman for Real Madrid but a vital piece of the England set-up, too.