Jose Mourinho has raved about Jude Bellingham and admitted that he was interested in signing the midfielder in the past.
Bellingham has gone from strength to strength since his move to Borussia Dortmund last summer and his impressive displays for the Bundesliga giants have seen him become an important part of the England set-up.
The 17-year-old became the youngest player to be capped in the European Championship when he came on in the second half of the Three Lions’ 1-0 win over Croatia on Sunday.
Bellingham was also rumoured to be on Tottenham’s radar before he sealed his move to Germany last summer.
Mourinho’s latest admission could be a confirmation that the North London club did indeed make an attempt to snap up the teenager.
The former Spurs boss waxed lyrical about the former Birmingham City starlet and insisted that he expects the youngster to play an important player for Gareth Southgate’s side this summer.
Mourinho wrote in his column for The Sun: “Jude Bellingham is going to have a major role to play for England in this tournament, I am convinced of it.
“And while it’s very dangerous to compare players — especially when you compare them with top, top performers — I do think Bellingham has something of Frank Lampard about him.
“Lampard shoots ten times, he scores nine goals, he always hits the target. But this kid is also capable of scoring from outside the box. He defends well as a midfield player but then he has the potential to be offensive.
“I like him very much. He is a box-to-box player, that old-school profile. I love everything about Bellingham. I can’t believe his age, only 17. The way he plays, the way he brings himself into the game, shows so much maturity.
“We were aware of him when he was at Birmingham and Borussia Dortmund did a phenomenal job to sign him — as with Jadon Sancho.”
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