Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has sent a message to Jude Bellingham to console him after England were knocked out of the World Cup by France at the weekend.
Haaland and Bellingham became friends when the pair played for Borussia Dortmund. The duo struck up a good partnership at Signal Iduna Park before the Norwegian striker opted to move to the Etihad Stadium in the summer.
Since then, both have gone from strength to strength. Haaland has been scoring goals for fun in Manchester while Bellingham has made his way into the England set-up and is now a regular starter.
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Bellingham would suffer heartbreak on Saturday night after the Three Lions lost 2-1 to France in the quarter-final of the World Cup. Taking to Instagram after the elimination, Bellingham wrote: "This one will be painful for a very long time.
"The better team on the night went out, that’s football sometimes. Regardless, I’m so proud of the effort, fight and performance from my teammates over the course of the whole tournament.
"Thank you also to the fans for the love and support these past few weeks, stick with us even in this low moment as we use this experience to continue to grow as a team for future tournaments. Keep the faith, our time will come."
While many of his England teammates took the opportunity to send messages of support to Bellingham, Haaland was also quick to share his thoughts on the 19-year-old. In a short reply, the 22-year-old posted: "What a player," followed by hands-up emojis.
At the time of writing, the reply had received 8,437 'likes' on the social media site. Bellingham's performances at the World Cup have led to Europe's biggest clubs being linked with the midfielder.
City are among those who are considered to be interested in the former Birmingham City man, with many believing that his friendship with Haaland could help sway Bellingham's decision. During the tournament in Qatar, Liverpool fans started to believe that he could move to Anfield after he was seen spending time with Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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