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Newcastle United are aiming to sign at least four more first-team players in the summer transfer window, with insiders admitting that the club are facing “headwinds” in a close season of transition.

The i Paper understands that Newcastle see the three players they have added as roughly “par” for where they expected to be at this point.

But there is an acceptance that the narrative surrounding the Magpies is difficult after they apparently missed out on another top target in Freiburg midfielder Johan Manzambi.

Latest on Johan Manzambi

In an illustration of how complex the transfer window can be, Manzambi’s representatives were still insisting to senior club figures late on Monday morning that they had not made a decision on his future.

However it is widely anticipated that the Switzerland international, one of the breakout stars of the World Cup, will now join Aston Villa for £49m – something Newcastle began to fear might be the case before the weekend.

Newcastle had made a serious pitch to Manzambi but club sources suggest it was never viewed internally as a “done deal” – unlike winger Victor Munoz, who they believe they had persuaded to come to St James’ Park before Liverpool hijacked the move.

While it might feel like a case of deja vu after being turned down by a slew of top targets last summer, the difference this year is they are working on “multiple, concurrent deals” and a much larger pool of potential targets that has been sourced since January.

They are in advanced talks with targets of similar profile and potential – who are also capable of exciting supporters – and anticipate having “three or four” more new signings on board before the season starts.

“We knew there would be points this summer where it would be frustrating, where things might feel difficult,” one senior source said. “But there’s a bigger plan we are working to – and have to work to.”

Two stumbling blocks

Having sold Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali already this summer, the mood around the club feels pretty desperate.

But progress on one of their big ticket items – infrastructure projects which majority owners Saudi Arabi’s Public Investment Fund have been criticised for not moving faster on – is understood to be close.

Those in charge point out that they have little option but to recalibrate recruitment, contemplate sales and absorb some blows given the hand they have been dealt this summer.

Clearly two things are harming their efforts.

The first is their ongoing battle with financial rules, which saw chief executive David Hopkinson summoned to Nyon for a Uefa tribunal earlier this summer and which means they must be disciplined in the transfer market in terms of fees and wages.

The second – and this has been critical in missing out on Munoz and Manzambi – is their lack of European football.

Finishing 12th last season has robbed them of that selling point and also impacted revenues, a sizeable blow given that clubs Newcastle are competing with can offer both.

So while the club are continuing to look at ambitious targets, there are no guarantees they will be able to get every deal they want over the line.

They have managed to fend off competition to sign midfielder Sean Steur, winger Bazoumana Toure and goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen.

A new blueprint

But first-team additions are being worked on, with a midfielder capable of progressing the ball quickly now a priority.

Newcastle are understood to be big fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Joao Gomes and Brazil international Danilo, who plays for Botafogo, is well-known to sporting director Ross Wilson after his stint at Nottingham Forest.

There are also targets based in Germany and Italy who they, understandably, are desperate to keep under wraps.

The club are aware of the perception of their summer efforts but it is emphasised that this is a transition period as they have to move away from the position they were in post-takeover of acquiring top internationals on big fees.

The new blueprint is a “multi-year, sustainable” plan that Newcastle believe will leave them in a far greater position by the start of the summer.

“Judge us at close of play on 1 September” is the message of those attempting to construct Newcastle version 2.0.

And it is probably wise counsel, however uncomfortable it might feel in mid-July.

The elephant in the room

If Newcastle broker a few more of the deals they are working on fans might buy that, but Bruno Guimaraes remains the elephant in the room.

If he becomes the third big name to leave in one summer it will be a very difficult sell, and there are few guarantees on his future as it stands.

As yet Newcastle have not had any contact at all from Arsenal and insiders have dismissed much of the speculation as noise driven by his representatives.

Read more

• Michael Hincks: Tottenham’s spending is an insult to Aston Villa and Newcastle
• Mark Douglas: Newcastle plot three transfers after deciding stance on £60m Arsenal target Bruno

But if Arsenal do get close to their valuation of nearly £100m there is a decision to make – and massive repercussions to manage.

In an ideal world he would stay another year and Steur, viewed as potentially the player to pick up his mantle in the medium to long-term, would become his successor.

As Newcastle have already discovered in this close season, things are never that simple.

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NEW YORK — Precisely 50 days lay between Thomas Tuchel announcing his World Cup squad and England reaching the semi-finals for just the fourth time in history.

All of Tuchel’s more curious selections came with an asterisk. Win the whole thing and few pages in the history books would be dedicated to Phil Foden, Cole Palmer or Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exclusions. A 26-man squad selected via 3D chess, which would eventually come into its own in the later stages.

The hour has arrived for those calls to pay off. It is why Tuchel’s initial 18-month contract was extended before the World Cup began – he is the ultimate big-occasion coach and they do not come much bigger than Argentina in Atlanta.

After the sheer exertion and exhaustion of Norway, England still do not have a full complement to choose from – here is how they could line up.

Pickford

Jordan Pickford has made more saves than any goalkeeper left in the World Cup. That is partly because he’s needed to but he has had a remarkable turnaround after a sub-par group stage.

James

Before the tournament began, it looked as if Reece James would be ruled out for the duration. His return is timely given the dearth of options at right-back, with Tino Livramento injured and Jarell Quansah suspended.

That made his deployment in midfield against Norway all the more baffling, while Kobbie Mainoo took in the action from the bench. Starting James is an obvious risk given his fitness issues and the question is whether Tuchel believes he is capable of managing at least an hour before he turns to his “finishers” – but now is the time to go big or go home.

Stones

Ezri Konsa was suffering from hamstring cramps by the end of the quarter-final. He started the game at right-back but it also means one less option for England in the middle. It was John Stones who most effectively kept Erling Haaland at bay. For all the criticism of Alexander Sorloth for not squaring it to Haaland to make it 2-0 to Norway, Stones did just enough to put him off. He has to start, with Dan Burn in reserve.

Guehi

Denied Antonio Nusa with a superb block against Norway and another sure starter.

Spence

Djed Spence’s performances at this World Cup have typified the season he had with Tottenham – excelling particular when asked to fill in on the left away from his natural position at right-back. There were times when he was almost playing as part of the front three in the quarter-final and it very nearly came off with his penalty appeal.

Nico O’Reilly has done little really wrong at this World Cup and both he and Spence carry an element of risk against an attack as good as Argentina’s, but Spence is the more direct threat if England want to properly exploit the channels.

Rice

Rice has four days to recover from the illness that saw him isolated from the group for much of the week leading up to Norway and subsequently taken off at half-time. He has been tidy enough at this World Cup albeit not spectacular – that is as much a by-product of Tuchel’s approach to the midfield as anything else.

If he cannot manage the full 90, Mainoo simply has to get on to try and thread through the types of balls Rice and Anderson have been reluctant to attempt.

Read more

• Kevin Garside: England’s lack of quality is Tuchel’s own fault
• Daniel Storey: Jude Bellingham has made some people look very silly

Anderson

Anderson will be tasked with one job but it is unenviable one – stopping Lionel Messi. He started this tournament at Nottingham Forest and ends it as the most expensive British footballer of all time – he has largely shown why, dominating the midfield. His best creative work came against Mexico and even if not a priority, he will be key if England are to break the lines in between containing Argentina.

Saka

Noni Madueke did not create any chances against Norway and in the same vein as James, it’s time to gamble on Saka even if he is not 100 per cent. Even where he can’t use his pace he is still capable of drifting balls into the box for Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. There is one other solution at hand – and that’s deploying Morgan Rogers on the right alongside Bellingham. Tuchel hinted at it before the tournament but has only done so sparingly.

Bellingham

It is going to sound absurd whichever way you phrase it but Bellingham is England’s answer to Messi, in that he is the one player around whom Argentina will stand or fall in this semi-final.

It sounds equally absurd to have any doubts over Bellingham, but footage from Spain appears to show him clutching at his shoulder more than once against Norway – given his history of shoulder injuries, that has to be a worry.

Gordon

Much like Pickford, Gordon has had a spectacular turnaround when it matters. It felt unfortunate that his big-money move to Barcelona coincided with their decision not to pursue Marcus Rashford on a permanent basis in that it set up an immediate point of comparison within the squad. Gordon has three assists since then and has more than justified his starting place.

Kane

The one fear over Kane at this World Cup was whether, given the lack of high-quality alternatives, he would be able to complete every game.

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In the least surprising news of all time, there is probably going to be more football. The game’s determination to eat itself in the name of big revenue, not to mention pushing the physical wellbeing of players like some mad Buckaroo experiment, is unmatched. Gianni Infantino, Fifa’s president, has conceded that he is examining an expansion to 64 teams for the next World Cup.

Is it worth even feigning shock for effect? The 48-team World Cup was only ever a placeholder, another step along the road to a World Cup every day in every country just so long as the revenue generation curve never dips. Football has no new ideas, just the same ones bigger. I dunno, call them all Super Bowls or something? It’s the post-truth age anyway. Nobody cares if it makes sense.

We should point out that this is not a done deal yet. In his interview with a Swiss media outlet, Infantino insisted that the issue will be “examined and debated within the relevant committees”. To which I’d say that… sorry I can’t. If I speak I am in big trouble.

The most galling thing: this works as a concept. That is how they get you. You thought a 48-team tournament was flawed? You didn’t like the eight third-place finishers and countries hanging on during an unfair process? Yeah nor us, rubbish isn’t it. But we can’t go back to 32 teams now so we’ll just have to go bigger. What else is a poor governing body to do?

Make no mistake: this is a double power-grab. For Fifa, it is the perfect PR move to pull rank over the continental confederations. What a World Cup expansion – doubling the participants from 32 to 64 in eight years – does most is to reduce the intrigue of qualifying and reduces the chances of major nations missing out. It means that more than 30 per cent of all Fifa nations will be at the party.

Which, if you’re running the show and generating the cash, makes complete sense. You don’t want Nigeria, Italy, Cameroon and Denmark missing out and you don’t want the psychodrama of those nations playing out months before your tournament begins. Who knows, you might even sneak in a China, Indonesia or India and then that revenue is really cooking.

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This is also a power play from Infantino himself, who has had a difficult tournament. Sure, he’s probably had a lovely time flying to every other match and appearing on the big screen to do a wave like he’s on a Bond villain special of Blankety Blank.

But there have been… difficulties. Like the accusation that his close relationship with Donald Trump that included a political recommendation before the tournament might have led to levers being pulled over the Folarin Balogun suspension overturn.

Now Infantino, we must say, denied that Trump’s calls had anything to do with that decision. But the whole affair did provoke Uefa to release a damning statement about Fifa’s regime and, according to The Times, has caused a loss of support for the president within his own organisation. Infantino is going to get re-elected, but some of his other ideas may have been kicked into the longer grass.

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• Daniel Storey: The penalties at this World Cup have been awful – I think I’ve worked out why
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Infantino’s core support lies within South America and Africa. So what better way to firm up those relationships than by expanding a tournament that may, coincidentally, significantly increase the number of African qualifiers and give three South American countries (currently down to host three matches between them) an entire group’s matches each. Welcome to the Fifa bakery: bigger pie, more slices.

How should we feel about this – angry, sad, vengeful, resigned? The other way they win is through outrage fatigue. We are pawns in their game, helpless flotsam caught in a torrent of geopolitical posturing and sport’s powerbroking.

Sixty-four teams? Sure. A World Cup every two years? Probably. The 64th spot kept open and 26 autocratic leaders and techno-manbabies each getting to pick a player? Don’t give them ideas.

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England might not have exactly swaggered into the World Cup semi-finals but they most definitely can win it.

If anything, the fact that they still have a couple of gears to move through after beating DR Congo, Mexico and Norway should be ominous for the three other teams left standing.

After a suffocating quarter-final win – both on account of the conditions and the tension that accompanied much of their second-half display – England now meet the best team they have played in two years.

But there is nothing to fear from Argentina and clear signs that this is a team that can end that long wait for silverware.

Jude Bellingham

Do not underestimate the impact that one man can have on a World Cup.

Tournaments are often won in moments and England have the ultimate moments man in Jude Bellingham, who is playing the best football of his international career.

Is he the best attacking midfielder we have had since Bobby Charlton? If England prevail on Wednesday, you can certainly construct that argument.

His performances this summer have eclipsed Paul Gascoigne’s breakout tournament in 1990 – not just for impact but also for the maturity of a man whose mentality was questioned in the autumn.

Where are those critics now? The shout that he should be left at home always stretched credibility gossamer thin but in the light of what has happened in the US over the past month it looks like an all-timer.

He is driving England on, scoring goals but also controlling the mood in games and in the camp. “When Jude is on form it sends a message,” Dan Burn said a fortnight ago. And the message has been: England can win it.

Thomas Tuchel’s tactics

“Tournament Thomas” is what they call the phenomenon, when the glint returns to his eye and the juices really start flowing for a manager whose CV suggests he makes the right calls when the pressure is on.

Camp insiders have marvelled at the change in him as the World Cup began. And the lore of Thomas Tuchel being a great knockout manager has only increased with each substitution paying off.

The defensive reinforcements in the Azteca were a masterstroke that few others would have tried – Djed Spence and Morgan Rogers proved game-changers on Saturday.

If Mexico was his masterpiece, Norway felt more like a difficult second album. But his extraordinary interview with ITV after the game illustrated the true nature of the man: relentless, unhappy and not afraid to prick a few egos in the search for more.

If anyone can come up with a gameplan to get England past Argentina, Tuchel can.

There is at least another gear to go through

Roy Keane scoffed that “maybe there is no more to come from England” after Tuchel called for more.

But that is a misguided diagnosis of a team who have shown in fits and starts what they can do.

Against Croatia for 45 minutes – opponents who wanted to come forward and have a go – England purred and so did Tuchel, calling it exactly what he wants to see from his side.

Since then? DR Congo came to frustrate and nearly pulled it off. Mexico were frazzled because of the 10 men. Norway had their gameplan, but it was not to attack.

Argentina won’t be the same. They will fancy their chances of getting at England and leave space that Egypt, Cape Verde and Switzerland all exploited. Playing better teams will suit this iteration of England much more.

They have been so close before

England are no strangers to the latter stages of tournaments but there is something very different about this run.

In 2018 it was wide-eyed wonderment that we were in the deep end of the World Cup. “Three Lions” was going viral but we were just glad to be there.

This time? Not so much. The tournament is now a success for England and Tuchel but they are ranked fourth in the world.

They should be here and this is the third tournament of the last four that they have reached this stage.

That means they have experience but also hunger. The group know what it feels like to be in these big games but also what goes wrong in these kind of matches and that experience should liberate them.

The job they did on Erling Haaland

Norway was not pretty but what was encouraging was how quiet Haaland – who had scored in every international since September 2024 – was kept.

England, barring a hair-brained period in the first half, did a great job on the best striker in the world and it should encourage them that they could do something similar on Lionel Messi, the enduring star of this Argentina team.

Read more

• Daniel Storey: Jude Bellingham has made some people look very silly
• Pete Hall: Thomas Tuchel boasts two killer instincts that Gareth Southgate never had

This is a team of mentality monsters

For a minute Tuchel looked like he was going to tear a strip off Gabriel Clarke, the poor ITV interviewer who asked if England’s mentality had been the problem in the stodgy win over Norway.

It was not a problem of mentality, he was told. And Tuchel was right: the desire, fight and mentality of this England side is flawless – they have come through things that would have killed previous generations.

The win over Mexico was impressive but there was something about prevailing against Norway – in the heat, with key players not at 100 per cent and Norway sensing momentum was with them – that suggests this England team are different.

Whatever happens this week, it will not be a failure of bottle. They are a group of mentality monsters.

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MIAMI — Thomas Tuchel always felt himself a little bit English. Well, he is one of us now, anglicised by the match trying to fathom how the players he sees at our clubs become mysteriously something other in an England shirt.

Tuchel, the great German technician brought to the post to make us less English in the later stages of major tournaments, ends up just as grateful as his predecessors for the indomitable spirit that binds us.

Tuchel will be loved forever for the honesty and candour of his post-match rant bemoaning the lack of quality and method that left his team so close to disaster against Norway.

But that will not save him should his own mistakes continue to work against the good in his team. The problem he faces in Atlanta is not so much working out how to blunt Lionel Messi and Argentina but how to unlock his own side and maintain his alliance with Jude Bellingham.

Like us, Tuchel is thankful for the talismanic, super human, a player who simply refuses to shrink before the responsibility of leading this team. But there is clearly a tension from less happier days when Tuchel questioned his attitude and singular approach.

“Sometimes it’s not technical or tactical,” Bellingham said, “It’s psychological, how you manage setbacks, how you manage adversity. You’re not going to win every game popping the ball and making a thousand passes. Sometimes you have to win dirty.”

This was essentially Bellingham’s retort to Tuchel’s frustration and anger. We were lucky, argued Tuchel. He was right. Tuchel also said he loved his team, but that context was lost in the immediacy of post-match processing.

“Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Odegard, [Antonio] Nusa and [Alexander] Sorloth. That’s not an easy team to play against,” Bellingham said.

Maybe Norway was the contest that laid tensions bare, that stripped camp England of all pretension. The blade of truth is out, cutting through the rhetoric. The requirement now is an honest appraisal of how we progressed to a fifth World Cup semi-final without remotely hitting a peak.

And part of that is to address his own contribution to the diminution of rhythm and pattern on the pitch. He might start with midfield. The part of the pitch served with distinction by Bellingham malfunctions around him partly because of Tuchel’s bizarre reluctance to play Kobbie Mainoo and the unavailability of Jordan Henderson, whose selection always looked a punt too far.

With England falling into disarray sans Declan Rice, it was almost an insult to Mainoo to deploy Reece James at the base of the scrum instead of him. And to have Henderson bouncing around in full kit with a pot on his arm was cultish nonsense.

Reheating Tuchel’s selection foibles will not bring Cole Palmer, Phil Foden or Jarrod Bowen back for Wednesday. If there is a lack of quality in his squad it is of Tuchel’s own making. Having chosen Mainoo his continued exclusion feels unreasonable.

Tuchel’s frustration is our frustration. How to get 11 players to be the sum of their parts, to impact matches like they do for their clubs. Norway stood off in the first half but England didn’t pick up on the deference shown them and were too risk-averse. Tuchel demands dynamism and gets diffidence.

Read more

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• World Cup: Did ball hit spidercam before Bellingham goal? Four England vs Norway controversies

Argentina are essentially peopled by players from the Premier League’s top six plus Messi. There ought to be no surprises and, to quote Franklin D. Roosevelt, little to fear accept fear itself.

The post-match mantra is always the same. We have to improve, we can get better. And before the next the optimism is back. He wants front foot aggression, to attack with skill and confidence. Be the best England we can be.

The tournament is in his hands as much as the players’. To live the dream in Atlanta and beyond England need a better game from their manager too.

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Even the wording is eerily similar. Like back in 1983, Gabriel Clarke probably expected Thomas Tuchel to eulogise about what his England players had just achieved in reaching the World Cup semi-final from the outset.

Just as an irate Sir Alex Ferguson did, after guiding Aberdeen to cup success over Rangers 43 years ago, Tuchel instead laid down the gauntlet to his jubilant charges – he wants and expects more.

Ferguson labelled that Aberdeen showing a disgrace. While Tuchel did not go quite as far, the thinking behind engaging in such psychological warfare is the same. It is what elite managers do.

Ilkay Gundogan explained how Pep Guardiola was always harsher on his players when they won. One particular example he cited upon the Catalan’s Manchester City farewell was when, in 2022, City had just become the first team in Champions League history to lead an away knockout tie by at least four goals at half-time against Sporting Lisbon, Guardiola came into the dressing room fuming.

Certain passes weren’t right as he berated his players – if they played like that in the next round, they were out.

"Not happy with the performance…"

Thomas Tuchel calls for more from his players after England's 2-1 win over Norway…

@gabrielclarke05 pic.twitter.com/y6yoHqfF8x

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 11, 2026

Tuchel has created an environment with England where such tough love works.

Earlier in the tournament, the German’s trusty lieutenant Anthony Barry became the star of the show for his forthright views on England’s first-half performance against Croatia.

And not just among the expectant masses back home – the players were totally on board.

“You need it,” Nico O’Reilly said. “I mean, if you’re not doing something right, or you’re not doing so well, someone there to tell you, I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Jude Bellingham’s immediate response was to bite back. But that would have been welcomed by Tuchel and his staff too. Tuchel has picked a squad in his mould, to much criticism. How could he leave players of the talent of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer and Trent Alexander-Arnold at home and take Jordan Henderson and Djed Spence instead?

Nothing is without reason with the meticulous England obsessive. The squad was picked to cope with this kind of challenge. It may seem trivial to some, but vibes within the group really are just as important as the ability of any player.

Gareth Southgate did a lot of good in the England setup. St George’s Park looks like it does and offers the path to stardom it can as a result of measures he and Dan Ashworth put in place.

Southgate’s managerial persona was more akin to a diplomat than a Tuchel-type disruptor. While his record of two major finals trumps anything since Sir Alf Ramsey, in the heat of the moment, 2018 against Croatia and the Euro 2020 final immediately spring to mind, when England lacked that killer instinct to reach the promised land again.

Tuchel has learned the hard way, after dealing with Paris Saint-Germain’s “bling-bling” era, that being an elite manager, you need to do things your way, no matter what the naysayers say.

Read more

• Daniel Storey: Jude Bellingham has made some people look very silly
• Daniel Storey: The penalties at this World Cup have been awful – I think I’ve worked out why

Take his in-game substitutions. Every decision is preordained, right back to his squad selection and picking players for particular moments, not for their overall ability. Dan Burn has had a greater effect on results than many starters, for example. How many others would have even brought the Newcastle United defender along?

Knockout football is a results business, not an aesthetically pleasing performance one. And this is when Tuchel comes alive. His record in knockout football speaks for itself, but it is no fluke.

This is what elite managers do. There is no resting on laurels. Every decision has a consequence. And it is why England perhaps have their greatest chance of ending 60 years hurt more than ever before.

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Jude Bellingham is now second for non-penalty major tournament goals in the history of the England national team. No England player has ever scored more goals than him at a single World Cup or European Championship. Bellingham is also the second-youngest appearance maker for England at this World Cup. Read that last one again. This does not make sense.

Every major tournament goal is momentous, but even so: Bellingham scored England’s first goal in Qatar and their first in Germany. He has scored 90th-minute equalisers, opening goals and game changers. He has scored twice in two minutes. He has carried an entire team on his back during this tournament. Harry Kane has the same number of goals, but for impact there is no fair fight.

Herein lies the great irony. They accused Bellingham of being arrogant. They said that his demand to be the protagonist, his main character energy, was in danger of dragging England down. Now that is exactly what they must celebrate him for being and doing. Bellingham has been named Man of the Match in four of England’s six games. He is the literal main character.

He gets frustrated because he wants to win? Fine by me – I want that too. He throws up his arms in frustration when things aren’t going his way? I’d rather my footballers looked like they care than the opposite. He demands perfection from teammates? Great, if he demands it from himself too (and he does). We have a World Cup to win. This isn’t a school sports day.

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Mistakes may have been made. It would be weirder if not. If you put up a list of the personal lapses of judgement in my late teens and early 20s on a big screen in even a small town centre, I’d move permanently to live in a large hole in the middle of nowhere. Growing up is a non-linear pursuit and doing so as a superstar is a thousand times harder than in some quiet corner of any country you can think of.

The accusation of arrogance is harder to parse without getting angry. For arrogance is an inflation of one’s own importance and I don’t think it possible to overstate Jude’s. Self-assurance – now that’s different: an understanding of your ability and a psychological process to maintain belief in challenging or high-pressure situations. There is no footballer on the planet more capable of doing that at the same age than Bellingham. You can’t overstate the importance so arrogance becomes impossible.

Not only do we tend to conflate arrogance and self-assurance, we (and I mean the English here) fall into the trap of seeing demonstrative shows of confidence differently in outsiders. Eric Cantona can walk in with a collar turned up as if he owned the place, to quote Roy Keane, and become iconic. As a sporting culture we are wedded to the eternal fear of pride before a fall and as a result are rotten at allowing confidence to run free. No shows of self-belief please, we’re English.

For Bellingham, an extra challenge: few people truly know him. He is unique, a magnificent, generational English talent who has never made a single Premier League appearance. He doesn’t like speaking to the media (which is entirely his fair choice) and doesn’t like the intrusion. That lack of knowledge has bred rumour, conjecture and information that is hard to prove or disprove.

But what was never in doubt is that this talent always had to be front and centre because his talent and attitude deserves it. There is the second irony: the questions were over personality but find me a player in this World Cup who has worked harder for their country. Even without the goals, the dribbles, the ball protection, the passes and the tackles, Bellingham runs for two. Do as I say and as I do; I’m fine with that.

Read more

Kevin Garside: Jude Bellingham saves ‘sloppy’ England to book World Cup semi-final spot

Quiz: How many can England questions can you get right?

There is a link to England’s manager here too. In his interview after full-time in Miami, Thomas Tuchel was angry with the performance. England had just made a World Cup semi-final; surely happiness is the only appropriate emotion? How arrogant of Tuchel, thinking England should be even better. Or perhaps: this is how the elite think. Good is never good enough. Pats on the back only come at the end of the road, never halfway.

Bellingham did not engage with the criticism. He knew what he could do and he knew how self-assurance would assist it. A kid from Stourbridge walked into the Bernabeu and believed he could own it. He landed at this tournament and believed that being 23 was no barrier to leading your national team to its greatest day.

So forget arrogance and its negative connotations for good and just watch, appreciate, admire. Even if Jude Bellingham did believe that he was the centre of England’s world, it’s a joy to live in it. You wouldn’t want him to be anywhere but here.

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