Jude Bellingham's former Birmingham City youth coach reveals he wears No 22 everywhere because it represents his ability to 'do it all' as a 4, 8 and 10 - with England star given idea in the academy at boyhood club

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Jude Bellingham's former youth team coach has revealed the reasoning behind his donning of the number 22. 

The Birmingham-born midfielder has been a revelation for England in Qatar, putting in a string of impressive performances to aid their march to the quarter-finals. 

His performances, however, have left fans wondering why he wears the number 22 - and not, perhaps, one of football's more established first team numbers. 

Jude Bellingham has been a revelation for England - but many fans have been left wondering why he wears 22

Dodds told talkSPORT: 'He would have been about 13 or 14 and like most boys that age, they want to be a No 10.

'And I remember, we sat down with him and we said, "we think you’re doing yourself a disservice, we think you can do all of it".

'So we came up with, "we think you can be a 22'. His eyes lit up and we knew we had hooked him from then on in!'

Dodds coached Bellingham and was the club's head of academy.

Bellingham has been deployed centrally for much of his career, with his range of passing and ability to carry the ball long distances serving sides well. 

Mike Dodds - who had a stint in charge of Sunderland's first team - revealed the origins of Bellingham's wearing of No 22

The midfielder has been imperious for England - putting in a string of impressive performances

However, his versatility is such that it has been suggested he could be deployed deep in midfield or even further up the pitch, perhaps in a false nine-type role.

'We said we thought he could be a holding midfielder, or a four. We thought he could be a box-to-box, which is an eight. And we thought he could be a scorer and a creator, so a 10,' Dodds said. 

'And from the age of 13 onwards he has held on to that all the way through and you can see that in his game. He made his debut at Birmingham City and he said, "I want my squad number to be number 22" and said the same thing at Dortmund.'

It was revealed that the reason stems from his youth career - when it was projected that he could be a '4'. '8' or '10'

Bellingham is the recipient of high praise at present, with team-mates, coaches and pundits alike all queuing up to praise his demeanour and maturity. 

Gary Neville called him 'unique' in his ability to perform in various midfield roles.  

'We've become obsessed over the last 10 or 15 years trying to describe what type of midfield player every midfielder player is,' Neville told Sky Sports .

'You get put into boxes, you're compartmentalised into a holding player or a box-to-box player or a goalscoring midfield player or a number 10. This lad can do everything, absolutely everything. They're very unique players.'

Upon leaving Birmingham for Borussia Dortmund in 2020, the club retired the shirt number 22. They said that it was 'fitting' for a player whom they hoped would go on to achieve great things in the game. 

Birmingham City ended up retiring the number 22 when Bellingham left the club in 2020

'In such a remarkably short space of time Jude has become an iconic figure at Blues, showing what can be achieved through talent, hard work and dedication,' Birmingham said.

'His caring, humble and engaging off-the-field demeanour has also made him such an impressive role model.

'The 22 shirt has become synonymous with Jude, his rise to the first team aged just 16 years and 38 days and these qualities. 

'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.'

Bellingham is due to be subject to an extensive bidding war this summer with the midfielder expected to tell Borussia Dortmund he wants to leave. Manchester City, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Chelsea are all said to be keen on acquiring his services. Meanwhile Paris Saint Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi admitted that they were also interested.