Birmingham City and everyone connected with the club, can rightly be proud of what Jude Bellingham has done since he departed St Andrew’s.
After just a single season playing at senior level with the Blues, the midfielder joined German giants Borussia Dortmund.
Having been a key player there before he even turned 20, last summer saw him complete a huge move to Real Madrid.
The former Birmingham City man has since thrived in the Spanish capital, producing a prolific campaign that has been key to his side’s La Liga title charge.
Bellingham has also established himself as a vital component at senior international level for England. Now 20-years-old old, he has already won 27 caps for Gareth Southgate’s side.
It appears as though that is something that those within the game expect to continue for a long time to come.
Conor Coady makes Jude Bellingham prediction
One player who is familiar with Bellingham from his time with England, is Conor Coady.
The pair have previously been together on international duty with the Three Lions on several occasions.
On the back of those experiences, Coady is expecting the Birmingham City academy graduate to be an integral figure for his country for many years to come.
Speaking about Bellingham on The Rest Is Football podcast, the current Leicester City defender said: “What a person. An even better player, just absolutely incredible all-round, and listen I think we’re going to build our team around him for the next 10/15 years, which is a really exciting thing to think about.”
Birmingham City must replicate Jude Bellingham success
It seems crucial for Blues that they manage to produce players who can go on to enjoy similar success to Bellingham in the future.
The money Birmingham City raised from the sale of Bellingham to Borussia Dortmund, proved crucial to securing the club’s financial status going forward.
With that issue now having been moved past, bringing through other young players in this way could open up exciting opportunities for Blues.
If they were to bring in those sort of funds from a young talent again, it would give them plenty of money, that could be invested in the squad.
That in turn, would then ensure that Birmingham City have an even stronger team, that could help them climb up the football pyramid.
Given they have talents such as Jordan James on their books, they do also possess players with the potential to earn them those sort of transfer fees.
Meanwhile, in Tony Mowbray, they have a manager with a proven track record of developing young players.
As a result, they should be in a strong position to generate funds from the sales of some of their young prospects.
If they can go on to have careers half as good as Bellingham’s, that could certainly provide some welcome boosts for Birmingham City to come.
It is therefore hard not to feel as though this prediction from Coady on Bellingham, offers reason to be excited for those at St Andrew’s.