ENGLAND star Jude Bellingham has admitted he was nervous about meeting Jack Grealish on international duty due to their former club’s rivalry.
The midfielder used to play for Birmingham City, which has a big cross-city hatred with Grealish’s former club Aston Villa.
Now at Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham has become one of the most sought-after players in Europe.
But he revealed that he was still wary of encountering the Manchester City player for the first time on England duty.
Bellingham was first called-up by Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate in November 2020, at this time they were both at their old clubs.
He was worried that their club allegiances would lead to friction in the dressing room, but his worries were quickly eased as Grealish gave him a big welcome.
He told TalkSport: “To tell you the truth, the first encounter I had (with Grealish) in the squad, I came down for lunch and it’d just been announced that I’m with the senior team.
“Obviously, I played for Blues and Jack played for Villa at the time.
“I didn’t know what he’d say about it and I think it was a year after he got punched in the back of the head so I was thinking if he held that grudge or whatever.
“Then we come to the lunch line and he gives me a massive hug straight away and I just thought this is going to be sound.”
Bellingham has starred for England so far at the World Cup in Qatar as he scored the team’s first goal of the tournament during the 6-2 win over Iran.
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He and Grealish will be working together again on Sunday as the Three Lions take on Senegal in the round of 16.
A win would lead to a quarter-final clash with one of France or Poland.
