Wembley is hosting the Champions League final, so it makes sense that some English players will be participating.
Jude Bellingham was certain to be the star of this grand event under the Arch on June 1st, given that he plays for Real Madrid.
Nobody anticipated, even a few months ago, that Jadon Sancho, of Borussia Dortmund, would be facing him.
Naturally, the two were teammates at Dortmund and got along well off the field. Four years Bellingham’s senior, Sancho assisted Bellingham in adjusting to life in Germany when he came there as a 17-year-old in 2020.
Bellingham’s decision to sign there instead of Manchester United or elsewhere was influenced in large part by Sancho’s success after moving to Germany as a teenager and his rapid rise to regular first-team play.
The English pair’s career paths have diverged significantly over the years.
Now twenty years old, Bellingham’s reputation has grown steadily to the point where he is arguably the best young player in the world.
In one of his great strides, Bellingham has made an £88 million move to Europe’s most successful team after excelling throughout three seasons at Dortmund.
With so many crucial contributions, he might finish his first season at Bernabeu with a La Liga and Champions League double. A plethora of individual honors would undoubtedly come after.
Bellingham plays as though he doesn’t feel the weight of expectation, even though he will be the young man leading England’s ambitions at Euro 2024 in the summer.
Sancho was one of Europe’s most promising players when Man United paid £73 million to acquire him from Dortmund in 2021, and the two teams appeared to be a match made in heaven.
Regretfully, Sancho’s career has collapsed due to his lackluster performance, mental health issues, and a strained relationship with Erik ten Hag, which has soured his Old Trafford ambition.
Given the dysfunctional atmosphere at United, it’s hard to determine how much of the player is to blame, even though Sancho hasn’t done anything to help.
Thus, it’s strange that a player who was sent to train with the youth teams last autumn is now in a Champions League final, at a time when United is fighting to even qualify for the Conference League next season, and Ten Hag is fighting to keep his job.
Ten Hag has made an effort to portray Sancho’s comeback on loan at Dortmund as advantageous for United, citing his high resale value among other reasons, but it doesn’t speak highly of him or his team.
There are many sliding door moments in football, but think about what would have happened if Sancho had apologized to Ten Hag and gotten back on track following his September social media rant.
With United losing 4-0 to Crystal Palace on Monday night, he most likely would have came off the bench, failed to have any effect, and faced jeers from the supporters.
Rather, on Tuesday, after playing a brilliant first leg, he assisted Dortmund in defeating Paris Saint-Germain to go to a Champions League final.
Sancho has rediscovering the basic joys of sprinting past opponents with the ball at his feet—pleasures he had forgotten at United.
Sancho will always have a Wembley Champions League final, no matter what happens in the future. Before they get down to business, there will undoubtedly be a handshake and an embrace for his old friend Bellingham in the tunnel prior.
Bellingham made a wise decision to transfer to Dortmund for £25 million from Birmingham City, but the move coincided with a challenging period as the world was still somewhat in lockdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
As a mentor, Sancho, a longtime member of the Dortmund team, assisted the teenager in acclimating to a new nation and way of life.
Bellingham stated in an October 2020 interview with Kicker magazine, “Jadon is really very important for me.”
Not simply because we speak the same language or are from the same nation.
More significantly, though, is the way he puts his arm around me and the other young guys; it gives us more confidence and strength to believe in our own skills.
He is a great example of an English player my age. It means a great deal to me to receive guidance from him. That really helps me.
Bellingham quickly established himself as a crucial component of what Dortmund did with that support. Throughout all three of his seasons there, he was a constant presence with steadily increasing power.
In the summer of 2021, both were selected for Gareth Southgate’s Euro squad, and Sancho had the opportunity to pay it forward.
At the time Bellingham was being connected to Liverpool, he told England’s official YouTube page, “The sky’s the limit for the guy.”
“He is a fantastic football player who surprisingly exhibits maturity for his age.” I believe that I was far from mature when I was eighteen!
It’s a huge deal for England in particular to be in a major tournament. He’s coming on and playing his part for the squad, as you can see.
He is deserving of it. As I’ve already stated, if he continues to perform well, he has the potential to achieve greatness. That’s what I hope occurs.
Sancho continued, speaking about their friendship: “What a guy! I recall how strange it was that he was quiet and reserved when he first arrived in Dortmund.
In fact, he told me right away that he didn’t think I would be liked. We are pretty close now; I’m not sure why, but as he came to know me, he began to like me.
“I always make sure to check up on him and see how he’s doing whenever I see him.”
After missing a penalty against Italy in the Euro final, Bellingham was one of Sancho’s first overs, demonstrating his extraordinary maturity.
His time came now to wrap an arm around the shoulder.
