Jude Bellingham will be watching Birmingham City’s pre-season clash with Barcelona and perhaps acting as a spy for Jose Mourinho.
Diario Sport make the report today, stating that Bellingham has become ‘Mourinho’s first spy’ as he returns to his former club.
Bellingham plays spy
The newspaper explains that Jude Bellingham has been invited to St Andrew’s to greet local fans.
Barcelona are due there this weekend for a friendly with Birmingham. They are currently training at St George’s Park as part of their pre-season schedule. Birmingham City have been specifically chosen for a friendly due to their closeness to England’s training centre.
According to the newspaper, Jude Bellingham will be at his former stomping ground as a plus for fans after reaching the World Cup semi-finals with England. They state that he ‘might’ stay to watch his former team take on Barcelona.
Journalist Víctor Navarro goes one step further, though. He reports that Bellingham will in fact be watching the game. He’s taken up a private box to watch the Championship side take on Madrid’s biggest rivals.
Whether that’s by Mourinho’s instruction, or request, we’ll leave up for interpretation. He’ll certainly be able to leave the Portuguese boss with an early estimation of the Catalan giants.
The Birmingham City connection
Birmingham City, of course, is Jude Bellingham’s first club. He made his professional debut for the Blues after coming through their youth ranks.
He went on to make 44 appearances in total for the first team, before leaving for Borussia Dortmund in a €30.15 deal in 2020. Birmingham later retired his number 22 shirt. He remains the club’s record sale to date.
His association with the Championship side remains, though. His younger brother Jobe also came through the ranks at the club before joining Sunderland. Now he’s following in Jude’s footsteps at Borussia Dortmund.
The connection is clearly personal one too, with him now taking up a private box just to watch his old side take on Barcelona in a pre-season friendly.
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