Jude Bellingham is a working class hero while Phil Foden would have been great at any club – his journey to top has been easier

Jude Bellingham is a working-class hero who has a “greater aura” than his England teammate Phil Foden.

That’s according to talkSPORT host Mark Goldbridge, who believes Manchester City star Foden would have dazzled any club – even without Pep Guardiola’s guidance.

Players from City and Real Madrid are set to feature for the Three Lions at Euro 2024 this summer, with fans hoping they can inspire England to a first trophy in 58 years.

But first they must face each other in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Etihad, where the scores are tied at 3-3.

Foden was on target at the Bernabeu in the first leg – scoring his 22nd goal of the season – while Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham was unable to add to his tally of 20 goals.

The pair head into Wednesday night’s meeting – live on talkSPORT 2 – as two of the most in-form footballers in Europe, with Goldbridge saying the fact Bellingham started in the Championship with Birmingham gives him the edge over Foden .

He told talkSPORT: “All my life you’ve had people who have had to work for things, you’ve had working class heroes, and now you’ve got the silver spoon brigade.

“Look, there’s nothing wrong with being born into a comfortable environment, I feel like Pep and Foden are made of the same cloth.

“Foden joined a Man City team that is dominating football and he is doing incredibly well, whereas Jude Bellingham started at Birmingham City, he went to (Borussia) Dortmund and now he is at Real Madrid.

“Integrity is a word that comes up a lot at Man City and whether it’s fair or not, I think the integrity of Bellingham’s course is more difficult.

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“And it’s more about the comics that I read as a kid – ‘Roy of the Rovers’ – where you start at the bottom and work your way up.

“So I think Bellingham’s story is more compelling, and I think as a player he’s more compelling as well. I just like the fact that he’s playing center for a Real Madrid team.

“Whatever Real Madrid is in world football today, it’s still Real Madrid, it still has that aura.

“Whereas Foden – brilliant, what a goal (at the Bernabeu) – he’s playing so well and I’m not taking anything away from him, but I think Bellingham just has this bigger aura to me at the moment.”

Goldbridge was then quick to downplay comments from Oasis legend Noel Gallagher that Foden was being earmarked as Guardiola’s biggest legacy at City.

The Manchester United fan argued that even if the Spaniard was the right coach for Foden’s development, he would have reached the top whether Guardiola was at the helm or not.

Comparing the situation to Lionel Messi’s four-year spell under Guardiola at Barcelona, ​​Goldbridge said: “If I make a lasagna from scratch tonight then people can congratulate me for doing it.

“Pep put a prepared meal in the microwave, and we’re supposed to say, ‘Oh my God.’

“Pep Guardiola has this incredible ability to be there when incredible talent comes through – Pep Guardiola is not responsible for Lionel Messi.

“But Lionel Messi succeeded at Barcelona and he is not responsible for Phil Foden.

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“What I mean by that is Pep Guardiola is a great manager, but Phil Foden was going to be a great player, and Lionel Messi was going to be a great player, you could say they came from the streets, they ‘re beaches.

“They are magnetic footballers with the ball at their feet, yes you need the right manager, Neil Warnock is not going to get the best out of Messi and Foden.

“But Noel Gallagher, when he talks about Man City, he wears these blue glasses, Foden is a better player for having played under Pep.

“But if you know football, Foden’s natural talent, he would have been an Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool great, he just has that thing that the best footballers have, and you can see it when he’s on the ball.