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For Derby County supporters, the arrival of Wayne Rooney in January 2020 after agreeing to join the club in the previous August will always be somewhat of a fever dream.
Rams fans on their way to the opening game of the 2019/20 campaign away to Huddersfield Town quickly saw notifications come through about rumours of the Championship side signing the England and Manchester United legend.
Just a day later, it was official and he left DC United later that year in preparation for his first taste of the second tier.
Derby have made more expensive signings, but Rooney will always be the most stunning and in the final game of the season, he got the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with a star of the future who was just finding his feet at Birmingham City.
Wayne Rooney’s first impression of Jude Bellingham was excellent
Jude Bellingham had burst onto the scene over the course of the 2019/20 campaign, and the 16-year-old was making waves in the Championship. However, with Birmingham towards the lower end of the table, it was obvious that he was ready for the next step and Rooney got to witness that first-hand.
Speaking to Gary Neville in 2024, the ex-Derby and Plymouth Argyle boss explained impressed him so much about the current Real Madrid star.
He said: “I played against Jude when he was 16. I was at Derby, he was at Birmingham and he actually man-marked me.
“I was playing deep in midfield, I was controlling games and he came to man-mark me so I kept dragging him out wide and he didn’t like it. What I loved about him, I’d go in for a tackle and he’d leave one on me. A bit like I would have done.
“I remember after the game saying ‘he’s going to go far’ and obviously I’d never expected what he’s done now and I think what you see with Jude, you see a player who wants it and has a mentality, he wants to play every minute of every game.”
The Championship was lucky to have two players of such quality face each other
Five years after Derby’s 3-1 win over Birmingham to round out the 2019/20 campaign, Bellingham and Rooney have gone in completely different directions.
The ex-Rams player went on to take charge of the team less than a year after that clash, while Bellingham moved to Borussia Dortmund for an upfront fee of £25m, as per Sky Sports. His brother, Jobe, has followed in his footsteps by leaving for Germany, as the EFL loses its second Bellingham.
However, the Championship has perhaps never seen two players who have reached such heights face off against one another and their meeting was almost a passing of the baton.
By no means was Rooney one of Derby’s greatest players; however, his eye for talent is clear to see and he correctly predicted the path that Bellingham went on to take.