Jude Bellingham has admitted it was 'hard' to say no to his England team-mates' after they delivered the sorts of sales pitches that Newcastle United target James Maddison will be only too familiar with.
Bellingham was subject of interest from Liverpool, Man City and Manchester United before the former Borussia Dortmund midfielder ultimately plumped for a switch to Real Madrid this month. Bellingham, in the process, became the first England star to move on this summer at a time when there are question marks surrounding Maddison, Declan Rice, Harry Kane, Harry Maguire and others.
Although Maddison and co will be fully focused on England's upcoming Euro qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia, this camp also gives these players the chance to pick the brains of potential future team-mates in the final internationals before the transfer window closes. Nick Pope did just that with Kieran Trippier before joining Newcastle last summer and the goalkeeper admitted his colleague 'really sold' the move to him.
