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Birmingham City have a reputation for producing young talent, but while Jude and Jode Bellingham will be at the forefront of fans’ minds, they shouldn’t forget about a former Blues loanee.
Jude Bellingham is now starring for Real Madrid and England. He moved from Blues to Borussia Dortmund in 2020 after one senior season with his boyhood club, transferring for £25million and making him the most expensive 17-year-old in football in history.
His brother Jobe moved on to Sunderland, before also joining Bundesliga club Dortmund this summer. While Jude is already featuring heavily for the Three Lions, another former starlet starred for Blues before playing for England, too.
While we don’t intend to make any readers feel old, it’s now officially been 12 years since he made his Birmingham debut – and it was an EFL bow for the history books.
Jesse Lingard hit four goals against Sheffield Wednesday on his debut
After joining Birmingham on an initial month loan from Manchester United ahead of the 2013/14 season, 20-year-old Lingard made his Blues bow at home against Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.
Lingard, who had been on loan with Leicester City the season prior, scored his first senior goal after just 20 minutes. 13 minutes later, he had completed his hat-trick, leaving Wednesday’s players and away end completely bemused.
He netted his fourth just six minutes after half time. Lucky for the Owls, he was withdrawn with just under half an hour to go. Wednesday got a consolation goal through Kamil Zayatte, but Blues won 4-1 as Lingard cemented himself as a starter for the Championship side.
After following up his performance with a header against Millwall, Lingard’s loan was extended to December, and then again to mid-January. Despite wanting to keep him, Lingard was sent to Brighton and Hove Albion for the second half of the campaign.
He made 13 appearances for Birmingham, scoring six in total and grabbed three assists too.
Where is former Manchester United ace Jesse Lingard now?
After his spell at Brighton, Lingard went on to establish himself in the Premier League with Manchester United before spells with West Ham and Nottingham Forest.
He was an England international from 2016 to 2021, but a dip in his form has seen him miss out on being involved with the Three Lions or with a Premier League club.
Lingard has been at South Korea side FC Seoul since February last year, and he is now captain of the K-League club.
He succeeded former Premier League player Ki Sung-yueng. Lingard is under contract with FC Seoul until December.