The ball bounced into a little space in midfield. Stand off him at your peril. One touch, turn. One touch, set. One touch... screamer into the back of the net. He wasn’t finished yet, but when Jude Bellingham scored the first of his two goals against Barcelona, he was confirming himself as the top scorer in all Spain.
But not, as it turns out, top scorer in his own house. Behind Bellingham — and his barnstorming rise to global fame — is a little-known goalscoring machine. His father, former police officer Mark.
Along with his mother, Denise, the Bellinghams (including younger son, Sunderland’s Jobe) are a hot topic in football circles, acting as agents and steering their family on a journey from Dudley, home of Lenny Henry and James Whale, to the Bernabeu, home of Puskas, Zidane and galacticos galore.