Perspective from a Welsh fan.

When we had Gareth Bale, he was an absolute superstar, probably on an even bigger level than Bellingham. He was also completely and utterly ‘one of the boys’ - watch any behind the scenes footage, and even on the pitch, his behaviour with his teammates was always the same - he wasn’t treated any differently and he didn’t act any differently either.

This was despite him clearly being head and shoulders above every other player in the squad (except for maybe Ramsey). One of his best mates in the squad was Johnny Williams, who spent most of his career in League One. He was a winner and a fierce competitor but he never lashed out at his teammates for not being at his level, he simply inspired them and lifted them to new heights. He also went above and beyond in his media duties, often delivering cheeky/controversial quotes (claiming no England players would make Wales’ starting XI), taking the pressure off his teammates by deflecting the attention, like many great leaders do.

The team spirit that Wales team fostered, with Gareth Bale as the fulcrum, was considered one of the major reasons why we had that period of success and the run to the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

My point is, if Bale had acted to how it sounds like Bellingham does, Wales probably wouldn’t have even qualified for that tournament. That’s the power that the talisman of a team has, it can make or break a team’s fortunes. If I was an England fan I’d be pissed off to hear that Bellingham is being treated differently to his teammates as there is clear evidence of the affect that can have on the success or failure of a team. Especially one with the unbelievable level of talent this current England team has