Keane tips Bellingham for all-time greatness after four-goal haul in England's 7-0 rout of Croatia

Jude Bellingham produced a historic four-goal involvement as England thrashed Croatia 7-0 in Rijeka, prompting Roy Keane to declare the 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder is destined to become “one of the greatest players of all time.”

Bellingham scored once and created three more goals on the night, making him the first England midfielder to record four goal involvements in a single match since David Platt netted four times against San Marino in February 1993. For Croatia, it was the heaviest defeat in their international history.

“Ranked 13th in the world, they made them look like a Gibraltar kind of team,” Keane said. “Outstanding in every aspect, and I think Bellingham can go on to become one of the greatest of all time — as long as he gets no injuries and he keeps the head.”

Keane was particularly struck by Bellingham’s work without the ball, arguing it elevates those around him. “His attitude with England recently — I’ve been praising him a lot for being fantastic in possession, but what he’s doing out of possession, that lifts all these other players. If you have a player that good in your team who’s amazing in possession and he’s playing for Real Madrid and he’s doing brilliant things, but his work rate off the ball is high, that will just inspire all the other players. He’s a huge leader for them.”

Bukayo Saka, who scored twice and had his first goal set up by Bellingham, was equally effusive. “He was amazing tonight to be fair,” Saka said. “He deserved England player of the year and he probably deserves man of the match tonight as well. He was special. Happy to play with him and happy to have him in the England team.”

The result leaves Thomas Tuchel’s side in a strong position in their UEFA Nations League group. England’s final fixture of the international break is at home to the Czech Republic on 6 October.