Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has heaped praise on Borussia Dortmund youngster Jude Bellingham.

The midfielder is part of Gareth Southgate's England squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar this winter.

Rooney has revealed in an interview that he knew Bellingham was a special player at the age of 16, when they faced off in the 2019/2020 season in the Championship.

“I played against Bellingham when he was at Birmingham and I was at Derby," Rooney told TalkSport.

“And he actually man-marked me during the game, I think he was about 16, maybe just 17, and what I really liked about him is every time I passed the ball off, he'd leave a stud in on me.

“And I remember thinking, 'he's got something about him', and just to show the character to go out to Germany and take that league by storm.

“That mentality to perform, obviously he's been captain in quite a few of the games as well, he's going to be a huge player for England.

“Just that mentality, even though he's young, he can put some of that character into some of the rest of the squad in my eyes."