Harry Kane & Co snubbed?! Jude Bellingham reveals Gio Reyna is his 'best friend' outside of Real Madrid as he opts for USMNT star over England team-mates

The 20-year-old midfielder has struck a close bond with many of those that he shares a dressing room with at Santiago Bernabeu – including Brazil internationals Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. He has also spent time on the books of Birmingham and Borussia Dortmund, allowing plenty of friendships to be forged along the way.

Asked by Topps UK to pick out the strongest of those, Bellingham went for a United States international that is currently on loan in the Premier League at Nottingham Forest. He said: “I think Gio Reyna, Dortmund team-mate, U.S. national team. Yeah, really good guy really good player, got on really well with him in Dortmund. I've not seen him for a while.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Bellingham was quizzed on the best player that he has shared a pitch with. He went for: “You can never really win with this, can you? I played with a lot of really good players at Dortmund and with England as well. But I think Toni Kroos or Luka Modric, probably one of those two. I think they just play a different game to everyone else. They're just 10 steps ahead of everyone all the time. So I'd say those two.”

He also said when asked what he intends to do when the day comes to hang up his boots: “Well, I'm not really giving it much thought. I'm still quite young, but getting on a bit! But I think it's one of those things where it's hard to come out of it when you've probably been in it for so long. I've played football since I was six or seven years old, so it's something that you become addicted to. So I probably think in the next 20 years, unless I get really bored of it, then it's going to be hard to lose the bug of wanting to go to training or wanting to coach or whatever. So I think I'll probably stay in football somehow.”

For now, Bellingham is very much focused on events in Madrid. He has already savoured La Liga title glory and is preparing for the second leg of a heavyweight Champions League semi-final clash with Kane and Bayern Munich. Once the domestic campaign is over, attention will turn towards a Euro 2024 quest with England.