The 21-year-old was seen sat outside an Italian restaurant with his parents in the centre of Erfurt the capital of Thuringia, the state in central Germany where England’s training camp is located.
But after posing for pictures with a string of fans and even a waiter, a crowd began to form and the Bellinghams were ushered inside. Police then arrived at La Piazzetta and Bellingham was escorted out to a waiting Audi and driven away.
He is understood to have spent at least two hours wandering the narrow streets of the pedestrianised city centre with parents Mark, a former police officer, and Denise.
A witness said teammate Conor Gallagher was also seen in the vicinity with girlfriend Aine May Kennedy, 27, as the pair looked for somewhere to eat.
But while Bellingham – who scored an injury-time bicycle kick to rescue England against Slovakia on Sunday – ended up being mobbed, the Chelsea player is said to have gone unrecognised by most of the German public.
Jude Bellingham posing to take a photo with a young fan outside an Italian restaurant in the centre of Erfurt, Germany
The footballer had been strolling around the town with his parents before they sat down for a meal but fans quickly recognised the England player and posed for photos with him
A fan stopped the 21-year-old player for a photo as he left the restaurant after throngs of fans gathered round to catch a glimpse
Johanna Birkefeld, 24, a student at the University of Erfurt, said she had a picture taken with the player before other people recognised him.
She added: ‘I had seen him about half an hour earlier walking down the road nearby. I couldn’t believe it when I looked up and saw him as I walked past. Then 30 minutes later I saw him again outside the restaurant. I asked him if I could have a picture and he agreed, so my friend took it.
‘He was really nice. He’s my favourite player.’
It is thought the Bellinghams spent at least 20 minutes outside the restaurant because they began to attract attention in numbers. A witness said at one point even a waiter approached the footballer, who was wearing a cream hoodie, for a picture.
Another student who had his picture taken with the footballer told the Mail Bellingham also signed his white hoodie.
Oualid Chtioli, 21, from Morocco, said he had his picture taken with Bellingham two hours before the player beat a hasty retreat, when the Bellinghams were sat outside another restaurant on the opposite side of the square.
‘I think Jude came to have a look around the city’, Oulid said. ‘I’m a Barca(lona) fan, but Bellingham is one of the few Real Madrid players that I like, along with Luka Modric.’
Mr Chtioli said that he had been with a friend who noticed Bellingham sat at a restaurant table. ‘I said to my friend: ‘that can’t be Bellingham – it must be his brother’, but it was him.’
The Bellinghams had only been sat outside the restaurant for about 20 minutes before they were mobbed by fans who wanted to catch a glimpse of the famous footballer
The footballer was quickly whisked away in a car after police were called to organise the crowds quickly gathering on the square
Jude Belliungham and his mother leaving the Italian restaurant flanked by police who were called after the family were mobbed by football fans
The student said the footballer was friendly and was pictured pointing to the seated player.
He then called another friend, Amine Elmagass, to tell him the footballer was in town, and Mr Elmagass, also a 21-year-old student, said he left college early to run into the city centre to catch a glimpse of the player.
The England players’ Wags and other relatives flew in to Erfurt-Weimar airport yesterday on a fleet of six private planes, worth a combined £40million this morning.
Flights back to Liverpool, Birmingham and two each to London and Manchester are due to head out of the airport this evening.
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