Birmingham City’s prodigy Jude Bellingham has caught the eye of the biggest clubs in football with his performances in the EFL Championship this year.
He has been a standout for the club in the league with four goals and two assists from midfield but the numbers that are the most important for the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich, who have been heavily linked with Bellingham, is that he is only 17.
Unfortunately for those big clubs, reports are suggesting that a deal with Borussia Dortmund is done and that the Englishman will join the die Schwarzgelben next season.
This tactical analysis will have a scout report on Bellingham and will also discuss his role under Pep Clotet at Birmingham City and how he could be deployed under Lucien Favre.
Jude Bellingham Player overview
To begin this analysis, we have to take a look at how Bellingham has been used under Clotet at Birmingham.
This season has been the 17-year-old’s first season in Birmingham’s first team and has featured in a variety of roles and positions.
There are a couple of reasons for this.
The first is that young players are often played out of position so that they are out of their comfort zone and are forced to become more efficient in their decision-making.
It is a method that managers like Arsene Wenger and Pep Guardiola have used before, and it has been successful.
The second and main reason is that Bellingham is incredibly versatile and has already a vast skillset despite his age, which will be touched on later on.
Above is Bellingham’s heat map from this season and it highlights his positioning on the pitch.
Clotet has most often played him in the central midfield position as a box-to-box midfielder alongside Ivan Sunjic.
