Birmingham City: Mike Dodds makes honest Jude Bellingham admission as Real Madrid Champions League final awaits | OneFootball

Mike Dodds has spoken out about the brilliance of Jude Bellingham ahead of this weekend's Champions League final.

The former Birmingham City academy coach witnessed Bellingham's progression through the youth team, into the first team squad, and his eventual departure to Borussia Dortmund.

In an interview with Sky Sports, Dodds revealed that he had perhaps not appreciated just how quality the midfielder was at the time, and how he almost became too used to seeing Bellingham's talents on a very regular basis.

Mike Dodds on Jude Bellingham at Birmingham City

The former youth coach, and current interim boss at Sunderland spent time in Birmingham City's academy between 2009 and 2021, when he left for the Stadium of Light.

During that time, he told Sky Sports that he witnessed Bellingham's progression from a 13-year-old into a first team squad member.

Speaking about his failure to notice just how talented Bellingham was at such a young age, Dodds said: "I think I was overly critical at times because you are in the eye of the storm, you are seeing him pretty much everyday, especially when he got to 13 or 14.

"He was pretty much in the academy everyday and he loved it. The way his programme was designed, he was there five to six times a week.

"I was seeing him more than my partner! I think when you are in that eye of the storm you don't appreciate what is in front of your eyes.

"I was probably guilty of that on reflection and I don't think I truly appreciated at the time how good he actually was, simply because I was so used to seeing the things that he did on such a regular basis."

Jude Bellingham's career at Birmingham City

Bellingham is arguably the biggest star that the EFL has produced in recent times. The midfielder, who wears the iconic number five shirt at Real Madrid, worn before by the likes of Zinedine Zidane, has skyrocketed since making his debut for Birmingham in 2019, aged 16.

He was given his debut by Pep Clotet in an EFL Cup tie against Portsmouth, and from there, he would go on to make just over 40 appearances for the first team.

In his time at his hometown club, the Stourbridge-born midfielder won numerous awards for his performances, being named as EFL Player of the Month in November 2019, only two months after making his first team debut, and at the end of the 2019/20 season, he was named as not only EFL Young Player of the Year, but also as Championship Apprentice of the Year, solidifying that he was a talent to keep an eye out for in years to come.

Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid's journey to the UCL final

Seeing Bellingham's career stats, it is clear that he has had an impact on each team he has played for, and nowhere can that perhaps be seen better than at his current club, Real Madrid.

Having typically played central midfield all throughout his career, Bellingham has made the seemless transition to a more advanced role this season with Los Blancos, which has resulted in personal and team success.

He has scored 19 goals in La Liga this season, as well as laying on six assists to teammates. In the Champions League, he has been on top form too, scoring four and assisting four in Real Madrid's run to the final.

In the final, hosted at Wembley this Saturday, Real will be playing Bellingham's former side Borussia Dortmund, who are appearing in their first UCL final since 2013.

Bellingham will be hoping that he can add the Champions League to an already growing trophy cabinet at his young age, and if he continues his form, it is likely that he will break Borussia Dortmund hearts and power Los Blancos to an amazing 15th Champions League trophy.