Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves have agreed that Jude Bellingham would improves "every team in the world". The 19-year-old has been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea lately as Todd Boehly looks to bolster Graham Potter's midfield.
But, it's said that the Blues face great competition from a handful of Europe's top clubs for the teenage sensation's signature. Bellingham has been subject to long-term interest from the west Londoners, football.london understand.
Chelsea watched the England international during his time at Birmingham City in the academy but, after failing to act on their interest, Borussia Dortmund swooped in and signed him instead. According to The Athletic, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Real Madrid are with the Blues in the transfer race for his services.
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Speaking on BT Sport, Ferdinand and Hargreaves insisted that Bellingham would 'walk into' every team in the world. The latter said: "For 19 years old, the kid's amazing, I remember seeing him for the first time and just being blown away.
"We saw him in lockdown at the Etihad Stadium, his attitude, at his age, is just frightening. What he’s been able to achieve is out of this world, he’s going to outgrow Dortmund - with the greatest respect in the world to them. Everybody is going to want him, he walks into Barcelona, Real Madrid, everyone."
Ferdinand agreed, revealing his astonishment at Bellingham's meteoric rise to superstardom at such a young age. The former Manchester United defender claimed that the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney don't come close to the Dortmund star, who has already been named captain at the highest level.
"I think he improves every team in the world, he’s that good," Ferdinand said. "For young players aspiring to become footballers, you’ve got to understand that, your attitude and mentality play such a big part of that.
"He just runs into space, you don’t just walk into games and things just happen. There’s a process to go through and that comes from mindset, mentality, dedication and talent but the mentality and mindset are huge/
"19 years old in Champions League football, how many of us were being talked about 'oh we’ll give him the armband'? There’s a queue that’d go out the dressing room before we’d get it and you’re talking about the best of our generation, the Steven Gerrards, Frank Lampards, Wayne Rooneys - they weren’t in the Champions League at 19. This kid, we'll give him it and there’s no qualms about it, not a question because we know he’s ready."
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