As former Chelsea player Joe Cole put it during BT Sport's coverage of Tuesday's Champions League match, "it’s going to be a great summer" for Jude Bellingham.
The west London club overcame a one-goal first leg deficit to complete a comeback and advance to the quarter-finals at the expense of Borussia Dortmund and their talented teenager. Bellingham played every minute of the last 16 tie but could not prevent another relatively early exit from Europe.
A 98th-minute yellow card received for a late lunge on England international teammate Reece James, whom the 19-year-old was apologetic to in the aftermath, encapsulated the frustration of the night for him. Since favouring Dortmund over Manchester United when signing from Birmingham City in the summer of 2020, the German giants have won just a single knockout round tie.
READ MORE: Dortmund chief provides Bellingham update amid City and United links
That lone win came when an Erling Haaland-led team edged past Sevilla in the round of 16 thanks to the now Manchester City player scoring four goals across the tie to progress 5-4 on aggregate. As their reward, it was City themselves who were waiting in the last eight.
Bellingham would score the opening goal of the second leg, which levelled the tie on the night at the Westfalenstadion following a 2-1 win in Manchester eight days prior. Parity would remain for 40 minutes on either side of half-time before a Riyad Mahrez penalty, followed by a fourth from Phil Foden, ensured it would be Pep Guardiola's side in the semi-finals rather than interim head coach Edin Terzić's team.
Under nine months after playing Championship football, this represented a meteoric rise by anyone's standards. But, instead of a positive first step, that remains the high water mark of Dortmund's European achievements since acquiring the midfielder's signature.
If that was the peak, then last season was the nadir. Only finishing third in a Champions League group comprising Ajax, Beşiktaş and Sporting due to their inferior head-to-head goal difference compared to the latter side from Lisbon meant dropping down to the Europa League, where reigning Scottish champions Rangers were in wait.
Despite Bellingham scoring in both legs of the knockout round play-off, a shock 4-2 defeat in Dortmund could not be overcome the following week at Ibrox. And with that, Marco Rose's team were out of Europe before the round of 16 stage for the first time in a decade.
With Terzić back, respectability returned by finishing second behind City in Group G last autumn, holding them to a 0-0 draw in Germany after Bellingham had again given Dortmund a lead in Manchester before Haaland completed a late comeback against his former employers. Three months into 2023, against yet more Premier League opposition, another one-goal lead was lost, and another missed opportunity was being rued following the full-time whistle at Stamford Bridge.
Dortmund may now have missed their opportunity to capitalise on Bellingham's talents. That could conceivably be the last time he hears the Champions League anthem while wearing yellow and black.
The Manchester Evening News reported in December that United are open to making another move for Bellingham after ultimately failing in their previous attempts two-and-a-half years ago. City are also known to be keen as they aim to strengthen their midfield this summer and can already call on the midfielder's friendship with Haaland potentially factoring into the teenager's ultimate decision.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl insisted Bellingham remains happy at the club ahead of kick-off in west London, but a lot can change over the course of 90 minutes. Terzić's comments claiming that talk regarding the player's future would wait until the end of the season are perhaps more pertinent than ever 24 hours on.
For City and United, there is hope it is going to be a great summer for themselves and Jude Bellingham.
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