This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Let’s just pump the brakes here.
Whilst Odin Bailey may have got the winner against Middlesbrough a few weeks ago, there is no doubting who the ‘golden boy’ currently is at Birmingham City, and that’s Jude Bellingham.
According to one member of the squad, he’s already starting to look like he could go on to be a success despite making less than ten appearances this season.
Speaking to Birmingham Live, Lee Camp compared the progress that the 16-year-old was making to one of his former teammates, someone that has gone on to have a very long career so far.
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Camp said: “I was at Derby when Tom Huddlestone came out of school at 15 or 16 and went straight into Derby’s first team and had two years there and played 80 odd games. Jude is as good as Tom and may even have a better career than Tom, and Tom’s had a fantastic career.
“His composure and maturity is fantastic. Overall what a fantastic kid. He’s a great guy and he’s fitted into the group well. He’s the captain for his age group with England. There are all these rumours about different clubs. He’s a great lad and comes in and works his socks off every day.”
Whilst Bellingham is clearly making waves at St Andrew’s, it should be worth noting that he is still very much in his infancy as a footballer, and it could be incredibly dangerous talking him up in this way and making comparisons like this.
Whilst those associated with the Blues will want him to go on and have a great career, whether it be with them or another club, it is just worth noting that we need to see if this success is going to be sustained over a period of time before we start projecting what he can do over the course of his career.
He has scored twice already this term but at the age of 16, it’s incredibly important that he keeps his feet grounded and doesn’t get bogged down by the inevitable hype – his club have to help him in all aspects of life.
For every player that was bigged up as a teenager and had success like Wayne Rooney, there will be a Freddy Adu that goes into obscurity, and it’s far too early to judge which way Bellingham’s career is going to go.
Supporters and teammates need to keep their expectations low and hope that he can go on to exceed them, rather than set them too high and end up disappointed when he doesn’t meet them.
