It's hard to believe that Jude Bellingham is still just a teenager.The Borussia Dortmund star and England international turned 19 on Wednesday, but it feels like he's been dominating games for years and years.In the summer of 2020, Bellingham followed in the footsteps of Jadon Sancho by swapping English soil for the Bundesliga and it's really proven to be an inspired decision.The Stourbridge-born midfielder has grown into one of the best in the business at Dortmund, with his performances throughout the 2021/22 season befitting of a world-class veteran.Bellingham regularly ran games for the German outfit and chalked up some impressive attacking numbers too.Across all competitions, the young superstar scored six goals and assisted a further 14, with three of those assists coming in just six Champions League outings.As well as proving he's one of the best footballers around these days, Bellingham displayed another talent of his during 2021/22 - beer catching.
LEVERKUSEN, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 11: (L-R) Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Thomas Meunier of Dortmund celebrate their teams fourth goal during the Bundesliga match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund at BayArena on September 11, 2021 in Leverkusen, Germany. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Getty Images)Back in September of last year, Dortmund were involved in a bona fide Bundesliga thriller against Bayer Leverkusen.The men in yellow and black eventually secured victory by a scoreline of 4-3, with Manchester City's new main man Erling Braut Haaland netting the winner from the penalty spot late on.To celebrate the match-winning goal, Bellingham jumped on his giant teammate's back in front of the outraged Leverkusen fans and that's where he pulled off the incredible catch.Check out the marvellous fan footage of the incident...
Video: Bellingham's beer catch after Haaland's penalty
What. A. Catch.
Bellingham could probably do a good job in the slip cordon for the England cricket team with hands like that.
However, the nation's football team needs the teenage sensation far more than Ben Stokes and his merry men.
Bellingham is pretty much nailed on to be included in Gareth Southgate's 2022 World Cup squad and the only question that remains is whether he will be a starter at the tournament.
WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JUNE 14: Jude Bellingham of England during the UEFA Nations League League A Group 3 match between England and Hungary at Molineux on June 14, 2022 in Wolverhampton, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
A central midfield partnership of Declan Rice and Bellingham behind England's array of superb attack-minded players sounds very tasty on paper indeed.
However, Southgate is a known pragmatist and may opt for the more defensive-minded Kalvin Phillips instead - a tactic that worked wonders for him at Euro 2020.
But if you ask the majority of England fans who they'd rather have next to Rice, most will reply with Bellingham.