EXCLUSIVE
Jude Bellingham is a working class hero who boasts a 'bigger aura' than that of England teammate Phil Foden.
That's according to talkSPORT host Mark Goldbridge, who believes Manchester City star Foden would have dazzled for any club - even without Pep Guardiola's guidance.
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The City and Real Madrid players are set to star 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 battle against each other in the Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Etihad, where the scores are level at 3-3.
Foden was in target at the Bernabeu in the first leg - scoring his 22nd goal of the season - while Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham couldn't add to his tally of 20 strikes.
The pair go into Wednesday night's meeting - live on talkSPORT 2 - as two of the most in-form footballers in Europe, with Goldbridge stating the fact Bellingham started out in the Championship with Birmingham gives him the edge over Foden.
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He told talkSPORT: "All my life, you've had people that have had to work for things, you used to have working class heroes, and now you've got the silver-spoon brigade.
"Look, there's nothing wrong with being born into comfortable surroundings, I feel that Pep and Foden are cut from the same cloth.
"Foden has gone into a Man City side that's dominating football and he's done fantastically well, whereas Jude Bellingham started at Birmingham City, he went to [Borussia] Dortmund and now he's at Real Madrid.
"Integrity is a word that gets thrown a lot around Man City and whether that's fair or not, I think the integrity of Bellingham's journey is harder.
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"And it's more of the comic books I used to read as a kid - 'Roy of the Rovers' - where you start off at the bottom and make 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 he's playing bang in the centre of a Real Madrid team.
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"Whatever Real Madrid are in world football now, it's still Real Madrid, they still have 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 that bigger aura at the moment for me."
Goldbridge was then quick to downplay Oasis legend Noel Gallagher's comments about Foden being named as Guardiola's greatest legacy at City.
The Manchester United fan has argued that while the Spaniard has been the right coach for Foden's development, he would have reached the top regardless of whether Guardiola was at the helm.
Likening the situation to Lionel Messi's four-year spell playing under Guardiola at Barcelona, Goldbridge remarked: "If I make a lasagne from scratch tonight, then people can praise me for making it.
"Pep's put a ready meal in the microwave, and we're meant to be going, 'Oh my God.'
"Pep Guardiola has this amazing ability to just be there when amazing talent comes through - Pep Guardiola is not responsible for Lionel Messi.
"But Lionel Messi came through at Barcelona and he's not responsible for Phil Foden.
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"What I mean by that is, Pep Guardiola is a great coach, but Phil Foden was going to be a great player, and Lionel Messi was going to be a great player, you can just tell they're from the streets, they're from the beaches.
"They are magnetic footballers with the ball at their feet, yes you need the right coach, Neil Warnock is not going to get the best out of Messi and Foden.
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"But Noel Gallagher, when he talks about Man City, he has those blue-tinted glasses on, Foden is a better player for playing under Pep.
"But if you know football, the natural talent of Foden, he would have been an Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool great, he's just got that thing that the best footballers have, and you can see it when he's on the ball."