19 October 2023 , 01:00
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It is a measure of Jude Bellingham's brilliance that Declan Rice - £105million Declan Rice - is happy to go along with the idea that he is the Real Madrid man's international support act.
Not long ago, Rice was the young player who was destined to carry the flag for the English football team's long-term future. He was going to be the talisman, he was going to be the next player off the captaincy rank, he was a marauding symbol of a bold, new era.
And that might still be the case. There is certainly no-one on Gareth Southgate's staff - and very few supporters, fellow players or observers - who underestimate the huge influence Rice, 24, exerts on this England squad. But the poster boy is 20-year-old Bellingham, and Rice knows it.
"I always say the same thing (to Bellingham) before each game," says Rice. "You go and do what you need to do, I'm behind you. He knows, with me, he has that security that he can go and roam and be free.
"I want to get the ball to him as quickly as possible and make sure a player like him has as little to do (defensively) as possible. We just want him to attack and get on the ball and show what he can do."
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And it clearly helps the dynamic between Rice and Bellingham that the pair get on famously away from the pitch. The Arsenal midfielder continues: "He is the type of person I like to be around - we're on the same page.
Jude Bellingham starred as England beat Italy 3-1 on Tuesday (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)"He's one of the jokers of the team, such a bright bubbly character who wears his heart on his sleeve. When things don't go right, he says it. That is the biggest compliment - he is young but says how it is and is there to better himself and better everyone.
"He is one of the leaders - in the way he plays, how he takes the ball and how he presses, how he gets after players, how he talks in the dressing room afterwards. He is one of the leaders."
And like most people within the game, Rice is completely unsurprised at Bellingham's stunning emergence, explaining: "Even when he was at Birmingham and started training with us, it was like he was 30 years old.
"Now he's playing for Real Madrid he knows how good he is himself - he is playing with that confidence and belief. And we know how good he is. He is on his way to big things."
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Arsenal's Declan Rice says that he'll always be there to back up Jude Bellingham (David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)Whether or not Bellingham and Rice now lead England to truly big things at the Euro 2024 finals in Germany remains to be seen. "We can do big things," insists Rice. "In terms of the challenge, I think the reaction since the World Cup has been amazing.
"We have enough winners in the group and, next summer, we know it is a chance to do something no English team has ever done. We have to be level-headed about it but there is one objective and that is to win on foreign soil. It is a big aim and a big desire for us. But we can talk about it as much as we can - We know, as players, it is now time to step up."