Christian Eriksen's start to life at Manchester United has been nothing short of superb.
The Dane has comfortably settled into the 'shuttle' role in midfield that Erik ten Hag was desperately craving during the summer transfer window. His tireless pursuit of Frenkie de Jong showed that the Dutch coach was fully aware of what was needed at United.
Missing out on De Jong was the first real hammer blow for Ten Hag at Old Trafford. As good as Eriksen has been, at the age of 30, he is not a suitable long-term solution to the midfield problem.
ALSO READ: United have already been told Bellingham's best position
During England's meagre loss to Italy in the Nations League, Jude Bellingham was once again highlighted as the solution. At 19, he plays with maturity way beyond years and a move back to England at some stage seems inevitable.
On Friday, former England and Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole summed up perfectly why United should pull out all the stops to sign the teenager. "He is really mature on and off the pitch for his age," Cole explained on Channel 4.
"He is exactly what England need in that position next to Declan Rice. He is strong, powerful and gets on the ball.
"I like the way he progresses his passes, he is happy to feed it in and is comfortable having bodies around him. He makes the right passes at the right time and he is such a talent.
"When he gets the ball, he always looks to go forward. In the game against Manchester City, he will always look to pop it and run and go into positions.
"He needs to be disciplined and he will need to do that in Gareth Southgate’s team but he is everything we need for England in that position. He is in pole position to be next to Declan Rice, and he is going to add more goals to his game.
"He is already one of the biggest talents in world football, I love him. If we have [Jack] Grealish, [James] Maddison and [Mason] Mount playing in that final third, we need someone with bravery to give them the ball, otherwise you could have all the number 10 in the world and Bellingham looks like he can fill that gap for us."
Bellingham's ability to go between defence and attack is exactly what is needed at United, to get the best out of the likes of Bruno Fernandes and those who will follow him. Eriksen's ability to pull the strings in midfield is one of his key strengths and has helped United overturn their bad start. Borussia Dortmund's 19-year-old sensation is now proving he can replicate that on the biggest stage.
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