Liverpool target Jude Bellingham has been likened to Zinedine Zidane, by the man who was the ‘driving force’ behind his first professional contract at Birmingham City.
Andrés Manzano was a sporting advisor at the Midlands club when he was first made aware of a special talent coming through the Blues ranks.
15-year-old Bellingham was already starring for the Under 23s, coming up against adult players but never looking out of his depth.
The midfielder was quickly handed a first team appearance and hasn’t looked back since, moving to Borussia Dortmund for €25m in July 2020.
He’s since made 117 appearances in all competitions for the German club, scoring 20 and assisting 24 as well as establishing himself with England, already earning 22 caps and starring at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year.
This summer will see him become the star man once again, albeit this time in the transfer window, with all the big clubs in Europe vying for his signature as he looks to leave Dortmund.
Liverpool are one of those in the race, with Jurgen Klopp determined to reinvent his midfield and Bellingham seen as the perfect addition.
Whether they can pull it off remains to be seen but Manzano believes if they do, Liverpool would be getting their own version of Zinedine Zidane.
“That day (he first saw him) he played as a central midfielder in a double pivot system,” he told AS.
“Maybe a physical English player like Gerrard or Lampard. But then I saw him many more times, sometimes we put him on the wing to go inside and he reminded me a lot of Zidane.
“As strong as the comparison sounds, that’s how it was. He’s a tall player, with a lot of technical ability, with a lot of playmaking and organisation, a goal scorer and a good assistant. Now that he has grown up and is more mature, I reaffirm that he is very similar to Zidane.
“If you watch him play, the coordination he has with that height and his ability to combine and dominate the ball, I can’t think of a more appropriate example.”
