Manchester City should make England star number one target

There have been some pretty exciting talent coming through the ranks of English clubs throughout the years with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jadon Sancho, and our Phil Foden.

A conveyor belt of talent in which Pep Guardiola has made no secret of his admiration of what this country is producing. This allows him to continue a trend to base his success on the importance of building a team around the nationalities where the club is based.

Barcelona had Xavi, Anders Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets in a midfield trio while Bayer Munich relied on Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Phillip Lahm and Toni Kroos as their rocks. Manchester City has Foden, Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Jack Grealish to name a few, with reported links to Kalvin Phillips getting closer.

The Leeds midfielder will be a great addition, no doubt, however the club should focus on a different Englishman as their number one target. That man is Jude Bellingham.

The Borussia Dortmund midfielder has the got the football world at his feet and is heavily linked to Liverpool and Real Madrid with Jurgen Klopp identifying the Birmingham-born youngster as their number one target.

Stealing a march on their title rivals will do more than boost City in their defence and pursuit of the outstanding trophies in their cabinet.

City may have to wait another season though after the club poached their star striker, Erling Haaland, there is little chance they will allow another key player to depart.

Negotiations over Haaland went smoothly; a good sign for the club to hit it off again like a favourite ex-partner. A fee in the region of £80-90 million seems a reasonable option with the player only 18-year-old, with many of his good years ahead of him.

But how good is the teenager and his potential?

Those years ahead of him will likely see Jude develop into the best box-to-box midfielder in the game, with him easing into the role possibly left by Bernardo Silva this summer and David Silva in previous years.

He has assumed the role of a box-to-box midfielder in the yellow and black, or he has rather defined a new role in the tactical world of football; a role where encompassing as a No.4 or a No.8 does not do justice to what Bellingham can actually do. The youngster can play anywhere, at any time, and master that role perfectly.

That role was demonstrated in his man-of-the-match performance against Besiktas in the Champions League, scoring one and assisting for Haaland, as he shone in one of the most hostile atmospheres. Dominating both attack and defence against the Turkish champions.

Those defensive abilities evidenced will aid Kevin de Bruyne and the front three going forward, as his determination in winning the ball back and defensive nous is all to see. Combining both duties requires plenty of energy and stamina, something that Bellingham has plenty of as his physical stature is not out of place against the seasoned and older pros.

Fitting into Guardiola’s tactics will be seamless given the similar pressing styles of Dortmund and the possession football in which he role he demands.

Time will tell whether City can grow their domestic based players with the English rising star or could lose out to their competition. A chance for Agent Haaland to work his magic over the coming twelve months.

If you could sign one player to fit into this team who would it be?