Keane: Bellingham Can Become One of Football’s Greatest

Roy Keane believes Jude Bellingham can go on to become one of the greatest players of all time after the midfielder starred in England’s 7-0 Nations League win over Croatia.

Bellingham scored once and set up three more in Rijeka, playing in a free role behind lone striker Harry Kane, as Thomas Tuchel’s side ran riot against a hapless home team. Kane and Bukayo Saka each scored twice, with Anthony Gordon and Morgan Rogers also on the scoresheet. It was Croatia’s heaviest defeat in their history.

The 23-year-old also made a bit of history of his own. He became the first England midfielder to be involved in four goals in one match since David Platt against San Marino in February 1993.

Speaking on ITV afterwards, Keane left little doubt about how highly he rates him. “Bellingham can go on to become one of the greatest players of all time,” the former Manchester United captain said, adding that there is still plenty more to come. He was just as scathing about the opposition, saying that a side ranked 13th in the world had been made to look like “a Gibraltar kind of team”.

For Keane, it was not only the end product that stood out. He said Bellingham’s work without the ball is setting the standard for his team-mates, and that a player of his quality putting in that effort inspires everyone around him. He did add one caveat: Bellingham needs to stay free of injuries. Bellingham also helped the cause defensively, and he won 14 ground duels, made a tackle and an interception, and had two recoveries.

The Real Madrid man was England’s best player at the World Cup and was recently named England Men’s Player of the Year. He now has 59 caps for his country and 14 international goals.

The win took England top of Group A3 for a few hours, but Spain’s 3-1 victory over Czechia later that evening put the world champions three points clear. England will now look to keep pace in the next round of fixtures.