England starlet Jude Bellingham to celebrate 18th birthday with Germany clash… and bumper Dortmund contract
JUDE BELLINGHAM will be celebrating on Tuesday regardless of the result at Wembley.
On the day England look to overcome Germany in the last-16 at Wembley, Bellingham turns 18.
And on this special birthday he will also have his contract at Borussia Dortmund extended by a further two years until 2025.
It is remarkable that Bellingham, who played 36 times for Dortmund last season, is already preparing for what would be his seventh senior cap tomorrow.
Over in Germany, there has been much discussion over Gareth Southgate’s refusal to give Bundesliga golden boy Jadon Sancho a single minute until the dying stages of their final group match.
In contrast, Bellingham has already made two appearances as a substitute and is likely to play some part against the Germans tomorrow.
It is clear that Southgate trusts Bellingham, perhaps more than he does Sancho.
Even when Sancho has played for the national team, he has generally struggled to make an impression.
Bellingham was handed his England debut against Ireland in a 3-0 win at Wembley in November.
His first start — and his third appearance — came in the 1-0 win over Austria in a warm-up at Middlesbrough earlier this month.
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He was an 82nd-minute sub for Harry Kane in the opening 1-0 Euros win over Croatia but remained on the bench for the 0-0 draw with Scotland.
With England protecting a 1-0 lead against the Czech Republic in their final Group D game, Bellingham was a 68th-minute introduction for Jack Grealish.
There is an outside chance Southgate could switch to a back three tomorrow and in this system, Bellingham may start alongside Declan Rice.
It is only 11 months since he signed for Dortmund in a deal worth £30million from his boyhood club Birmingham, where he played 44 times.
Manchester United attempted to sign him and even wheeled out Sir Alex Ferguson and Eric Cantona in a bid to lure him to Old Trafford.
Bayern Munich also made a late attempt to capture Bellingham and offered more money, but Dortmund was seen as the ideal club to further his career. It has certainly proved to be the right choice.
Dortmund team-mate Sancho, 21, said yesterday: “The kid is mature. I think everyone can notice that, but he deserves it.
“He’s been working extremely hard at Dortmund, especially his first training session — you could tell already that he was ready to ball out in Germany.
“The sky’s the limit for Jude. Being at a major tournament for England is a very big thing and, as you can see, he’s doing his role for the team.
“He deserves it. If he keeps on doing well then he can reach the top.”
Despite interest from Chelsea this year, Bellingham is going nowhere.
Like Dortmund team-mates Sancho and Gio Reyna before him, a clause in his contract will be activated when he turns 18 tomorrow.
His current wages of £50,000 a week are now likely to go up.
With Sancho set to join Manchester United, striker Erling Haaland will stay at Dortmund and probably land a massive move next summer.
With the club unlikely to sell more than one star player per season, Bellingham looks sure to remain in Germany until he is in his early 20s.
But right now, his priority is to mark his birthday with the win over Germany which would send the Three Lions into the quarter-finals.
Bellingham’s impact, considering his age, has been remarkable. Equally, this is only just the start.
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