Jude Bellingham’s artistry can take Gareth Southgate’s sad song and make it better | Jonathan Liew

The Real Madrid midfielder is lighting up La Liga but must be given the freedom to inject some life into the national team

First you need the vision. “Around the pitch I want to be an artist,” Jude Bellingham says, which is the sort of quote that makes you double-take, because what footballer even talks about making art these days? Well Geoff, at the end of the day it’s all about engaging in a search for deeper meaning, washing away from the soul the dust of everyday life, creating a new kind of sense where none previously existed. Fortunately, on this occasion, the big man’s got his head on it.

And perhaps the most thrilling thing about watching Bellingham at the moment is not the goals (11 in all competitions) or the assists (four) or the celebrations (broad, open-armed, inviting us to embrace him), but that little gap between the moment of creation and the moment of realisation. When he’s trapped by the touchline and plotting his escape route. Or the shuffle that shifts the ball out of his feet and opens up whole new dimensions of possibility. You don’t know how this ends, because nor does he.

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