Morgan Rogers: There is no cap on what Jude Bellingham can achieve

By Jonathan Veal, Press Association, Kansas City

Morgan Rogers believes there is “no cap” on what Jude Bellingham can achieve as the England star continues to fuel their World Cup bid.

Bellingham has been the standout performer in England’s run to the quarter-finals, with his two-goal display in Sunday’s historic last-16 win in Mexico regarded as one of the country’s great individual performances.

The Real Madrid star’s position in Thomas Tuchel’s squad seemed uncertain after the German mistakenly called his behaviour “repulsive” in an interview last June before leaving him out of the October camp as he recovered from shoulder.

But the 23-year-old has proved himself to be one of the best players in the world on the biggest stage and Rogers says his great mate is on the way up.

“Of course he can get better, of course he can mature,” he said. “His prime years are ahead of him and that’s what’s so good about him; what he’s accomplished at such a young age.

“I think it’s just so inspiring to everyone, everyone before him, everyone after him, what he’s done and what he’s accomplished.

“You forget how young he is, that’s how good he’s been. But I still think there’s a long way to go, and he’ll probably say the same as well.

“The drive, the hunger he’s got in the game for what he wants to achieve.

“He knows that he’s got things to work on, things to improve on, like we all do, and I think that’s what’s so exciting about being an England player, being his friend, just how far he can go, no one really knows and kind of having no cap on what he can achieve.”

Rogers and Bellingham have been friends for the majority of their lives, with Bellingham attending Rogers’ fifth birthday party.

While others may have doubted Bellingham after an indifferent season with Madrid, Rogers was full of belief.

“I’m not surprised and neither is anyone in the squad of how he’s played, how he’s performed, how he’s taken big key moments in games,” he said.

“Even the game the other night, we probably didn’t start the game how we would have liked and in the space of five minutes he’s put his fingerprints on the game and kind of taken hold of the game.

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“That’s the type of player he is and that’s the type of player you need in big moments in tough environments, tough atmospheres.

“When things are going your way, you need your best players to stand up, and he’s done that in pretty much every game so far.

“We’re not surprised. I don’t think anyone else should be surprised, really. He keeps on doing it time and time again.”

Rogers’ own star is rising, having been linked with a £130million summer move to Arsenal on the back of a fine season for Aston Villa.

Rogers, also 23, is enjoying the attention, saying: “Showing it in glimpses and spells is all nice and well, but you’ve got to be able to do it consistently.

“I look at players in the room, in the training ground, like Harry Kane, Jude, they’ve done it for five, six, seven, eight years consistently, and that’s the difference from a good player to a great player.

“That next level, I want to take that step, I want to be in those conversations with the best players in England, I want to be in those conversations the best players in Europe.

“I’ve still got a long way to go and a lot of learning to do and a lot of development, but I think I’m on the right path of doing that.”