Jermain Defoe has sung the praises of a young English midfielder after being amazed of what he’s achieved at his time in Germany and for his performances for his nation.
In an interview with Sports Mole, Defoe claimed that although he still has a long way to go, reaching the heights of Liverpool icon is not unthinkable for Dortmund star Jude Bellingham.
“I hope so. I’m not going to say that he can be in that bracket now, because I think what Lamps and Stevie did, that’s unique. We’re talking about some of the greatest players to play the game,” said Defoe.
“Frank Lampard scoring 20 goals from midfield for six consecutive seasons I think it was – that’s a special player. And Steven Gerrard, what can I say about Stevie? One of the best players I played with – had everything. Could pass, could run, could tackle, could score, could head, could do everything – aggressive, could lead. We’re talking about two of the greatest.
“I would like to think that he could get to that level and we saw it in the World Cup how good he is. He’s so young, and he’s just like a man – it’s frightening. How good he’ll become, who knows? He might even be better, we don’t know, but just let the boy develop, let him enjoy his football, but the way he’s going, the sky’s the limit because he is a special talent.”
The now-Tottenham youth coach reminded us that we need to reserve our high expectations, as Bellingham is still young and should, really, get wrapped in cotton wool.
It’s easy to get carried away in your thoughts as a Reds fan that Bellingham is the second coming of Gerrard, but his true potential is yet to be uncovered.
We have seen how spectacular of a footballer he is – his performance in Qatar was exemplary and seemed the epitome of an old head on young shoulders.
Given his supposed price tag, the expectation the young star will carry is unimaginable, but if he were to join the Merseyside outfit, the fanbase would be behind him.
Liverpool will have a world-beater in their ranks if they managed to secure his signature this summer, but managing such a promising talent can sometimes be trickier than first thought.
