Bobby Moore’s No 6 at West Ham. Diego Maradona’s No10 at Napoli. Johan Cruyff’s No 14 at Ajax. Paolo Maldini’s No 3 and Franco Baresi’s No 6 at AC Milan. Javier Zanetti’s No 4 at Inter Milan.
Joining such esteemed company – among others – on this very exclusive list? Jude Bellingham’s No 22 at Birmingham City.
The gesture of retiring a squad number is often reserved for club legends or to honour players posthumously after their life was tragically cut short.
And so it was all the more surprising to see Birmingham City announce they have retired the No 22 shirt following 17-year-old Bellingham’s departure to Borussia Dortmund.
“The 22 shirt has become synonymous with Jude, his rise to the first team aged just 16 years and 38 days and these qualities,” an article on Birmingham City’s website read.
“And as such the club have decided it would be fitting to retire this number, to remember one of our own and to inspire others.”
The decision comes with Bellingham having made 44 appearances and scored four goals for the club, who retained their Championship status on Wednesday night.
Having risen through the ranks at their academy, the tribute goes some way towards understanding the club’s pride in producing a homegrown talent that is now set to rub shoulders with Jadon Sancho, who moved to Germany as a teenager from Manchester City and has since flourished into an England international and Dortmund regular.
Should Bellingham reach such heights then Birmingham will know they have played their part in his development, but this sentiment does little to gloss over a bizarre decision which has left some Blues fans scratching their own heads.
‘He’s 17’ was trending on Twitter by Thursday afternoon, while the replies to Birmingham City’s own post have been less than kind.
Meanwhile, Carl Jenkinson, Nathan Redmond and Aleksandr Hleb are among the Blues players to have donned the No.22 in recent years.
Birmingham-born Redmond himself rose through the club’s academy and made 62 league appearances before moving on – slightly more than Bellingham.
But the derision should not be aimed at Bellingham, however, who thanked the club for the “great gesture”.
Thank you for this great gesture, It was such a privilege to represent this club!???? https://t.co/VeejH4jYBF
— Jude Bellingham (@BellinghamJude) July 23, 2020
“I do love the club and I struggle to hide how much this club means to me. I just hope the fans have enjoyed seeing me play,” Bellingham, their youngest ever player and goalscorer, told the club after his last match against Derby.
“It will always have a massive place in my heart because it’s my club and the club I support, and it’s been a privilege.”
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/30EpHvs
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