Birmingham City: Harlee Dean makes ‘frightening’ Jude Bellingham claim | OneFootball

Harlee Dean has opened up on playing alongside Jude Bellingham at Birmingham City.

Former Birmingham City defender Harlee Dean admitted Jude Bellingham was the best player at the club as soon as he broke into the first-team.

The 21-year-old has established himself on the world stage over the past few years, initially with Borussia Dortmund before joining Real Madrid, where he won the Champions League last season.

But, it all started at Blues for the Stourbridge-born midfielder, with Bellingham still very much appreciated at St. Andrew’s.

Not only did he contribute on the pitch after breaking through as a 16-year-old, but the youngster also commanded a huge fee from Dortmund at a time when Blues’ financial situation was bleak.

Harlee Dean opens up on playing alongside Jude Bellingham

All connected to the club are rightly proud that they have produced a player who has gone on to play for Real Madrid, as well as becoming a key figure for England.

And, speaking on the Undr The Cosh podcast, ex-Blues centre-back Dean gave an insight into what it was like to play alongside such an elite talent.

“He came up as a kid, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t make much of him - we had a few kids coming up. We had enough problems, it was the last thing I had to worry about was whether this kid was any good. It was just about staying up each year.

“The one thing I can remember is when he's made his debut, it was Stoke at home, and I think someone went off injured early doors, and we looked over, and I've seen they're bringing Jude on, and I’m like, 'F*****g hell, we don’t need this now.'

“[He’s] 16 maybe, like just – 'We don't need this right now, we need someone who I know that we can trust,' but how wrong was I? The kid came on, that was it. F*****g scored, and then just never looked back from there.

“Every day in training, if you had on your team, you won,” Dean added. “The best player every day, but just so humble with it as well. He would nutmeg you, take it around six people, put it in top bins and then didn’t wanna smile or celebrate or give it big. He’d just go and do it again, and that was it. Frightening.”

Jude Bellingham loved his time at Birmingham City

Fans will love to hear this from Dean, as it shows Bellingham has the right attitude, and, even with his natural ability, he was still applying himself properly every day.

He wouldn’t have reached the level he has on talent alone, with Bellingham also having a great work ethic and a driven mentality that pushes him on as he chases success.

To do that, you will need a selfish streak, but Dean’s comments here show that the youngster would never get ahead of himself, and he clearly enjoyed being part of the group at Blues, even though he was destined for bigger things.

At some point, all connected to Birmingham will hope he can return to pull on the royal blue shirt, although they know it may be a long shot.