With a lighthearted quip about Aston Villa fans, Jude Bellingham made it clear that he supports Birmingham City.
The midfield star was joined by his England colleagues for Euro 2024 at St. George’s Park for their farewell tour before heading to Germany.
Many enthusiastic young fans were in attendance, taking photos and requesting autographs as they wished the Three Lions heroes good success in the tournament.
Bellingham, who has had a fantastic debut season with Real Madrid, is a huge fan favourite and is met with enthusiasm.
As he was taking pictures and signing autographs, presenter Josh Denzel mentioned to him that there were some Villa fans in the throng in front of him.
Bellingham, whose hometown team is Villa’s rival Birmingham, said jokingly: “You’re joking, I feel bad for signing them now!”
The 20-year-old grinned and continued to welcome fans, putting club rivalry aside as he prepares to represent England in Euro 2024.
“Very excited, looking forward to it,” he added. “Great send-off here and hopefully we can make them proud.”
Alongside him was Eberechi Eze, who had been called up for his first big tournament with England, and he, too, showed appreciation to the hundreds of fans who waved them off.
“A lovely experience. “Having everyone here to support is insane,” Eze remarked. This is my first one. It’s a huge accomplishment, and I’m grateful to be here. We’ll do our utmost to win.”
“I remember a lot of people coming up to congratulate me, and I hadn’t seen it yet, so I was like, ‘Okay, thanks!’ But I checked, and I was buzzing.”
Captain Harry Kane, obviously, received a lot of love from the supporters and took time out to discuss his country’s chances of victory.
“I am excited. “These tournaments are as big as they come, so I can’t wait to get out there and get started,” Kane added.
“That would be the ideal combination [winning the trophy and the Golden Boot], but to be honest, it doesn’t matter if I don’t score as long as we win.
“That’s the team’s goal; we’ve done well in the previous ones, but now it’s time to cross the finish line. It will be difficult and need a lot of hard work along the way, but we are excited about it.”
After signing autographs and taking selfies, the England players boarded their coaches and left their training facility in Staffordshire for Birmingham Airport.
Fans cheered them off and waved their St George’s Cross flags as the 26-man group proceeded to Germany, where they will stay in their five-star Golfresort Weimarer Land base camp near the east-German town of Blankenhain.