The Group Chat Discusses Bellingham, Maguire, Højlund & More

In the latest episode of the Group Chat via our partners at Betfair, the likes of Alan McInally, Will Perry and Sam Rosbottom discuss some of the current trending topics in world football.

The likes of Jude Bellingham and Harry Maguire have created plenty of headlines following contrasting displays for England in the international break, while the Group Chat also assesses whether Ramus Højlund can have the desired impact he is expected to have at Old Trafford following his £72m summer move from Atalanta this summer.

This summer, Jude Bellingham was arguably the biggest name to be transferred, having left Borussia Dortmund to join Spanish giants Real Madrid for a whopping €103m transfer fee.

During the international break, Bellingham was England’s star performer as they beat Scotland 3-1 at Hampden Park in a 150th-anniversary match with the Los Blancos star scoring England’s second goal, while assisting the Three Lions' third goal of the game for Harry Kane.

So far this season, Bellingham has been in electric form, having managed to score five goals and create one assist in just four La Liga matches, prompting questions of whether the 20-year-old former Birmingham City man could win the Ballon d’Or in the future. After all, Michael Owen was the last Englishman to win this award having managed to achieve this with Liverpool in 2001.

Gareth Southgate has received a lot of criticism during the international break for selecting the likes of Harry Maguire and Kalvin Phillips following their lack of game time at club level. Unfortunately, the former scored an own goal in England’s 3-1 win over Scotland while being constantly jeered by fans of the Tartan Army, further exacerbating questions over his selection.

The former Middlesbrough manager has stated that he is unhappy with the treatment that the Manchester United defender has received, saying: "I've never known a player treated the way he is, he's been an absolute stalwart for us in the second most successful England team for decades - he's been an absolutely key part of that. I've talked about the importance of our senior players, he's been crucial among that.”

Southgate further added that “every time he goes on the field, the resilience he shows is absolutely incredible. He's a top player and we're all with him and our fans were brilliant with him."

Interestingly, Lewis Dunk impressed on what was just the Brighton & Hove Albion defender's second cap for the Three Lions having received his first cap all the way back in November 2018 in a friendly win over the United States.

The Seagulls captain has received a lot of praise for his impressive ball-playing qualities under the likes of Graham Potter and Roberto De Zerbi which has seemingly played a large part in his recent call-up to the Three Lions senior squad.

Throughout the 2023 summer transfer window, Manchester United were on the lookout for a new striker, having been linked with the likes of Harry Kane and Randal Kolo Muani, however, the Red Devils settled on Danish wonderkid Rasmus Højlund.

The 20-year-old is currently the top scorer in Euro 2024 qualifying, having bagged six goals for Denmark and impressed in a cameo appearance for the Red Devils in their late 3-1 loss to Arsenal just before the international break.

United’s £72m transfer fee for the Dane was seen as very expensive due to Højlund only scoring nine goals in 32 Serie A appearances for Atalanta who had initially signed the ex-Copenhagen man from Sturm Graz for just €17 million following 12 goals in 21 games across all competitions for the Austrian Bundesliga outfit.

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