Chelsea have been given yet another reason to sign Jude Bellingham after the 19-year-old stood out on another below-par night for Gareth Southgate's England.
The Borussia Dortmund man has been linked with a big money move away from Germany next summer with Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and a host of Europe's top teams all circling for the former Birmingham City midfielder.
Chelsea already looked extensively into trying to make a move for Bellingham this summer with Todd Boehly's ambitious plans to revamp the squad in his first summer, but given the Blues spent over £250m on players anyway, it is understandable that he wasn't pushed further.
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Boehly is well aware that two of Chelsea's current midfielders are out of contract in the summer and the futures of N'Golo Kante and Jorginho are anything but certain heading into the final three months before they can start to negotiate a free move away from Stamford Bridge.
That makes the situation around Bellingham even more noteworthy, and Joe Cole has praised the youngster, saying: "He is really mature on and off the pitch for his age. He is exactly what England need in that position next to Declan Rice."
Bellingham impressed despite England's labours and is expected to remain a key target for the club with Graham Potter's arrival too. The new manager set up with Jorginho at the base of his midfield with Mateo Kovacic and Mason Mount ahead of him as Kante remains out injured.
The midfield Southgate used could give Chelsea their own hint though, and Cole loves everything about Bellingham, adding: "He is strong, powerful and gets on the ball. I like the way he progresses his passes, he is happy to feed it in and is comfortable having bodies around him. He makes the right passes at the right time and he is such a talent. When he gets the ball, he always looks to go forward.
"In the game against Manchester City, he will always look to pop it and run and go into positions. He needs to be disciplined and he will need to do that in Gareth Southgate’s team but he is everything we need for England in that position. He is in pole position to be next to Declan Rice, and he is going to add more goals to his game. He is already one of the biggest talents in world football, I love him.
"If we have Grealish, Maddison and Mount playing in that final third, we need someone with bravery to give them the ball, otherwise you could have all the number tens in the world and Bellingham looks like he can fill that gap for us."
Mount, who started on the bench for England after a poor start to the season at Chelsea, is normally one of the go to players for Southgate, even in a wide forward role that doesn't suit him. Now he appears back in the plans of a No.8 at club level, it could blend well with a summer search for both Bellingham and Rice as Chelsea look to overhaul their central areas next summer.
If praise from Cole wasn't enough though, Alessandro Del Piero wanted a Bellingham of his own, saying: "I wish he was playing for Italy. He is a young guy and I was very impressed with the way he spoke. He knows what to do, he knows what to think, but he is still learning."
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