BORUSSIA DORTMUND̢۪S manager reckons he has helped to construct England̢۪s midfield for the next decade as the World Cup approaches.
Edin Terzic – who previously worked with Declan Rice at West Ham – has got Jude Bellingham banging in the goals in the Bundesliga.
The Dortmund boss describes the maturing box-to-box Brummie Bellingham as the ‘oldest 19-year-old I’ve ever known’.
The locals are purring about Bellingham’s emergence as a goalscoring midfielder – after the England man scored a double in Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing of Stuttgart to take his season’s tally to eight.
Bellingham has netted four of those goals in the Champions League, including the opener at the Etihad last month, before former team-mate Erling Haaland̢۪s late winner earned City a 2-1 victory.
His conversion into a more attacking midfielder complements the more defensively-minded Rice, who made his West Ham debut when Terzic was assistant coach to boss Slaven Bilic.
Terzic, 39, said: “Borussia Dortmund is well known for developing talent. But Jude, at the age of 19... he’s like the oldest 19-year-old I’ve ever seen.
“On and off the pitch we’re really happy he’s with us.
“It’s a win-win situation. We are benefitting from having him and he appreciates that Borussia Dortmund is the right place for his development.
“Jude will have a big impact not only against City but for the World Cup and for the rest of our season.
HOW TO GET FREE BETS ON FOOTBALL
“For the English in the next ten years not only Jude but Declan Rice, who I was fortunate to work with at West Ham, will dominate the midfield positions for their national team. They are both very talented players.
“I’m really happy with the way Jude is performing this season. It’s a different role, more attacking, entering the opposition box many times.
“He’s got eight goals this season. This was the next step we spoke about when I chatted to him before the season.
“I’m happy with the way he’s performing but his development is not finished yet, we still don’t know what his limits are.â€
Terzic was an assistant manager and technical director at Dortmund while Norwegian goal machine Haaland was scoring 86 goals in 89 appearances in two and a half years at the Westfalenstadion.
Yet Haaland has even improved on that ratio since joining City and, like his pal Bellingham, he netted twice at the weekend – the Norwegian’s brace against Brighton taking him to 22 in 15 appearances for Pep Guardiola’s side.
While City are already through to the Champions League knockout stage, and Dortmund are likely to join them, tonight’s clash will be a major ‘homecoming’ occasion for the hottest striker on the planet.
And Terzic said: “After the game in Manchester, Pep Guardiola told me we played the same game as when we played City one and a half years ago – but I said ‘no that was when we had Erling’.
“Then we knew that with one touch, he would score but now we don’t have that option, that’s not possible, and we have to find other ways.
“We have only positive memories of Erling – he’s not only a brilliant player but a brilliant person in the training ground and dressing-room.
“He enjoyed Dortmund and we saw that when he said goodbye to the club last season and when he saw us in Manchester a couple of weeks ago.
“It was great for him to be in Dortmund and great for us to have him scoring goals. Now he’s scoring goals in a different shirt and we have to stop him from scoring goals.â€
The man tasked with stopping Haaland tonight is Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel.
The Swiss No 1 said: “It was really emotional saying goodbye to him but now I have to stop him.
“It’s the type of challenge you want as a goalkeeper. He was up for a challenge all the time in training and I hope we can continue this tomorrow.
“He is incredibly fast and physical and has a great shot but I want to keep my goal empty. It’s a really big challenge for me and the boys in front of me but matches like these are the most special.â€
