KIERAN Trippier spoke at length to Jude Bellingham before the midfielder completed his move to Real Madrid, with the Newcastle United defender using his experience of life in the Spanish capital to give the teenager an idea of what to expect.

Trippier's England teammate Bellingham joined Real from Borussia Dortmund this week for an initial fee of £88.5m, with the deal potentially rising to £115m.

Having spent two-and-half-years in Madrid with Real's rivals Atletico, Trippier knows what Bellingham can expect on and off the pitch in Spain and offered some crucial insight. Ultimately, though Trippier expects the young midfielder to shine at the Bernabéu.

"I think it was important to have a little chat with him," said Trippier while on England press duty.

"Just about what can he expect from living there, the league, the people, but Jude, you know, he's an old head on young shoulders, he's a bright lad with a great family behind him. If he needs someone to lean on, he knows I'm always there for him. He'll thrive out there.

"It certainly is (unique). When I first went there it was a little bit difficult at times, communication and stuff, so that's what we were speaking about, maybe learning Spanish as quickly as possible. It's unique and it's really good to see more English players going out abroad and testing themselves.

"Jude, I'm absolutely delighted for him because ultimately he deserves that move."

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Bellingham was included in Gareth Southgate's England squad for the upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta tonight and North Macedonia on Monday, but he won't feature in those games. He's continuing his rehabilitation on the injury that kept him out of the final game of Dortmund's season.

While Bellingham won't be involved in the coming two England games, the Manchester City stars who linked up with the squad on the back of their Champions League win to secure the treble could feature.

Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, John Stones and Kalvin Phillips enjoyed three days of celebrations after their 1-0 victory over Inter Milan before linking up with the England squad - and Newcastle defender Trippier says he'd have partied in exactly the same manner!

"I'm absolutey delighted for them," he said.

"They've been so close over the past few years and they've won the treble. Not many people can say they've done that.

"They've enjoyed themselves, they've celebrated like I would if I won the treble. Most importantly they've all come back in good moods, lifted everybody and trained well."

Southgate has confirmed that Trippier will start for England against Malta.