" Jude Bellingham is loving life with Borussia Dortmund and England | MOTDx"

Jude, my man, it's been an unbelievable year for you. How are things? Yeah, all good. I've just had a couple of knocks and stuff, so I've just been looking after that mainly in the gym. When you say you're in the gym, are you trying to get wham? Is this the plan? I can confirm I'm trying to get wham. We'll go back to the beginning for you, right? So, spent half your life playing for Birmingham City. What does that club actually mean to you? It means the world to me, to be fair. I kind of owe them everything to this point. One thing about me is when I was in the academy, I was just so impatient. Like, I'd play with the 23s or the 18s and I was always looking at, you know, I want to be there or should be there. So, when this kind of stuff was coming, it wasn't like I was overwhelmed or I was in awe. I was just trying to crack on really and prove to everyone that, you know, I'm good enough to be at that level. Making that decision to leave, you know, your hometown and leave England to go to Germany, how difficult was that for you? I think it is a big step because when the clubs come in for you and you're kind of thinking, you know, Germany, like, I think you don't realise that you're kind of giving up the lifestyle that you had in England because it's so different, do you know what I mean? And my mum's been brilliant with me over here, kind of making me feel comfortable and at home and, you know, I kind of just feel like Germany is my second home now. Did you really feel that desire from them that they wanted you and what did the club do to make it clear to you that they wanted you there? For me, it's all about the feeling that I get from the people and the ambition. People bring up money and all that rubbish but I wouldn't play for a club that I genuinely didn't fall in love with, you know. I felt a strong connection with the people at Dortmund. They told me, you know, if you come here, we'll develop you, you'll get game time and you'll be an international in two years and... It took you six bloody months, mate. Yeah, a little bit earlier than I thought, but yeah. Dortmund is known the world over for creating unbelievable talent and nurturing talent as well. I mean, you've got yourself, Haaland, you've got Jadon as well. Like, how big a factor was that for you? Yeah, definitely. I think you look at those people and just the platform they've been given to perform, really, and that's all I feel like I needed. I feel like, you know, they're a perfect example of that and especially, you know, Jadon coming from England, he's been a massive help since I've got here, so from the first day, I knew I'd made the right decision, to be honest. What's the food situation like in Germany at the moment? How are you finding it? Because, like, not much restaurants have been open for that much time, I've been at home and, like, kind of eating my mum's meals. All the food that I like has kind of come with me, so it's perfect for me, really. Nice, that's amazing, that's amazing. She's going to be buzzing watching this as well. You've shared some of, like, the abuse that you've been sent over on social media. Do you feel a sense of responsibility at all to, like, use your platform and use your voice? Yeah, definitely. I think every footballer should. I mean, some of the abuse that I've seen is disgusting and, you know, I think fans and the players can be proud of the football clubs, especially in England, for the way they've gone about the blackout, but, you know, it's almost the club saying, look, we're willing to do our part, but essentially it comes down to the people who run the social media platforms that have to start taking responsibility and have to start standing up for us. You know, it's not hard to see whether you're young, white, Asian, black, you know how a person should be treated and that's regardless of colour and, you know, I think, regardless of my age, I know that kind of thing isn't acceptable and so, yeah, I won't be one of the people that accepts it and if I can stand up for people, then I will. Who was your idol growing up? Oh, that's a good one. I think my idols were Rooney, was probably my first one, just because, like, he just had everything, really. So aggressive, but then, at the same time, with the ball, he was, like, amazing. I think as I got older and I started being a bit more box-to-box, I just fell in love with Steven Gerrard as well and Zidane, so I'd probably say them three. This summer, I mean, I don't want to jinx it at all, but, look, talking of England, you've made your England debut. How much are you hopeful of being involved? Honestly, and this is the honest truth, I can't believe that I'm being, like, putting contention so early in my career. Like, some of the players that I've gone there and different class, so to kind of be talked about in that kind of breath is a real honour. I'm obsessed with the game and I have been since I was really young, you know. I've seen all these guys play for years now and, you know, I take bits from when I was, like, 10, 11 years old. I've been taking skills, been taking techniques from those guys, so to kind of just go up against them and test what I've learned is almost the perfect test. I enjoy trying to, like, break down the chess of the game almost and it seems like I'm, like, 17, but in my head I feel like I've watched at least 20 years of football. Honestly, I hope with everything inside of me, I hope you're on that plane and you do bits for us in the Euros as well, so I really appreciate your time, mate. I appreciate that, bro. Thank you for having me on. See you soon.