By George Overhill

5th Oct, 2022 | 10:00pm

Jude Bellingham will cost at least £150m if he has a good World Cup with England - Ian Wright

Jude Bellingham will cost at least £150million if he has a good World Cup with England this winter, where he has to start, says Ian Wright.

The teenager is now captaining Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, and has some of Europe’s biggest clubs circling for a transfer next summer.

Wright believes that he has such a high level of quality that he must be included in the Three Lions XI in Qatar, and if he performs there his price tag will be easily the highest for an English player in history.

Speaking on the Wrighty’s House podcast (4 October, 30mins) the former England and Arsenal striker said: “When you look at the future, we’ve got Jude Bellingham who’s the captain of Dortmund now, which is an unbelievable message they’re sending out, love it.

“This isn’t a ‘hands off our man’. This is a ‘look at our man’… Jude Bellingham has to start for England in the World Cup. If he had a good World Cup we’re talking about £150million straight off the bat once he comes back, and he’s got no buy-out clause.

“I remember when Jude Bellingham left Birmingham and the Birmingham fans were saying ‘retire the shirt’. People were laughing! They were laughing at the Brummies! They knew! They saw!

“Now we’ve seen, he got in the England squad at 17, at 19 he’s captain of Dortmund. He’s going to go to one of the big clubs. He will be a major star.”

Destined

It is easy to fall back on hyperbole when describing big talents but when it comes to Bellingham it is hard to argue with Wright.

It did seem ridiculous for his shirt to be retired at St. Andrews when he left as such a young teenager, but ever since the midfielder has shown signs that he is truly a generational talent.

The fact that he plays in Germany currently is probably the only thing that has stopped the hype machine from going into overdrive already, as it has done since Erling Haaland arrived at Manchester City.

The Bundesliga, the Europa League, full internationals, and now the Champions League haven’t proven too big of a step for a player who has a stature far beyond his years.

Captaining the Black and Yellows to a 4-1 away win at Sevilla on Wednesday night (5 October), where he scored a wonderful goal of his own, was just the latest showcase of his talent.

And this is as a central midfielder who controls the tempo of games, not as a tricky winger who sometimes might be left on the periphery of the action.

It is a tired, and often inaccurate, cliché to declare that youngsters “will only get better”, but in this case it feels like that is actually true, and even if it isn’t he is already a top level operator.

With Kalvin Phillips struggling with injury since he moved to the Etihad, and Gareth Southgate’s side in need of greater thrust after some terrible Nations League results, it would appear to be a dereliction of duty at this point not to have the 19-year-old as one of the first names on the team sheet.

Any club with cash is going to be ready to throw it towards the Signal Iduna Park in eight months’ time anyway, but if Bellingham shines on the biggest stage of them all the numbers will be eye-watering.

In other England news, Jamie Carragher says Jacob Ramsey isn’t ready for the national side yet.