The Qatar World Cup is set to feature the world’s best football players. It’ll also mark the first taste of the World Cup for a number of players from almost every one of the participating national teams.
There will be a lot of keen eyes on some of the highly-rated young players that are poised to fire the competition alight.
One player that will have a lot of major clubs keenly watching him is England midfielder, Jude Bellingham.
The 19-year-old star has had an amazing season for Borussia Dortmund so far, having scored 9 goals and provided 3 assists for them from a midfield role.
He’s gotten even better since Erling Haaland’s departure and even captained the Bundesliga side at such a young age. Bellingham is also a major transfer target for a number of prominent European clubs.
The likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea are all eager to bolster their midfield with the energetic, prolific midfielder.
His performances in the World Cup could help these clubs decide whether Bellingham is truly ‘world-class’ or not.
It could definitely raise his popularity and value, helping him be part of a crazy transfer war in the next summer transfer window – when Dortmund could be forced to let him go.
While there are no real ‘front-runners’ yet to sign him next summer, Liverpool are set to push hard to get him – irrespective of whether or not they get a new owner by then.
It also appears that Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has formed a really close bond with the midfielder on international duty.
Alexander-Arnold was picked for the World Cup squad by Gareth Southgate mostly due to the injury of Chelsea right-back Reece James.
He isn’t expected to start over Kyle Walker or Kieran Trippier in that right-back spot after struggling defensively for Liverpool this season.
Trent is being a proper ‘team player’ and helping teammates find their peak fitness levels ahead of the World Cup. He’s also sticking really closely to Bellingham, a player who his side wants to sign in the near future.
The two England players have almost been inseparable in the camp for the Qatar World Cup.
They were also seen training together when the Three Lions had one of their first training sessions in Doha ahead of their opening game in the World Cup against the USA national team.
The Daily Mail’s journalist Dominic King confirmed that they have been pictured together all through the camp, tweeting ‘wherever one is, the other hasn’t been far away since England arrived in Doha.’
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jude Bellingham getting ready for training; wherever one is, the other hasn’t been far away since England arrived in Doha pic.twitter.com/asGljdUjaI
This is understandably exciting news for Liverpool fans, who feel like Alexander-Arnold is working as their ‘agent’ to convince the 19-year-old midfielder to join him at Anfield next season.
Of course, footballers do have a history of convincing their best pals to join their clubs in the past.
Neymar evidently played a major role in bringing Lionel Messi to PSG once he left Barcelona. Bruno Fernandes played as an agent in bringing Cristiano Back to Manchester United last year.
For the time being, however, Trent is probably helping Bellingham be fully prepared for the games ahead.
The midfielder is likely to play a bigger role for England than Alexander-Arnold and will have to produce some of his career-best performances to bring it home to England next month.
