Former Aston Villa and Stoke City midfielder Lee Hendrie has admitted that he believes that Birmingham City will end up losing Jude Bellingham in the future due to the midfielder's potential.

Since bursting onto the scene earlier this season, the 16-year-old has emerged as a mainstay in the Blues's starting eleven.

Although predominately a central midfielder, Bellingham has illustrated a great deal of versatility in recent months by playing on either wing for Birmingham.

During the 31 appearances that he has made in the Championship during the current campaign, the England Under-17 international has provided three assists for his team-mates as well as scoring four goals.

Having opted to stay at St Andrew's in January despite interest from Manchester United, Bellingham has since attracted the attention of Borussia Dortmund.

According to The Telegraph, the Bundesliga side are confident of completing the signing of the midfielder during the summer transfer window.

Whilst German news outlet Sport Bild suggested earlier this week that Dortmund were close to agreeing a 35m deal for Bellingham, 90min have reported that Birmingham have yet to receive an offer from Lucien Favre's side.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World's Chief Editor Sam Rourke, Hendrie has suggested that Birmingham will not be able to hold on Bellingham.

The 42-year-old said: "Birmingham are certainly going to lose him because he's got too much potential not to play at a top-flight club.

"He's been linked with a lot of clubs, not only teams in the Premier League but clubs from across Europe.

"Borussia Dortmund, there's talk of Barcelona, you know there's lots of clubs that are looking at him and that just speaks volumes of the potential this boy has got as he is a super footballer and I think he's only going to materialise into something special."

Hendry admitted if Bellingham does leave the Blues, he must join a club who can aide his development.

"If he's going to go to a football club, he's got to go to a team where he is going to get game-time as we don't want to see Jude Bellingham go off the radar after a fantastic season.

"So he's just got to be particular about where he is going to go."

The former Stoke man later suggested that the midfielder is worth the 35m that has been touted in the German media.

"I think it's a fair sum of money as he's 16, he's proven that he can play Championship football and that's a tough standard of football to go and play.

"To go to Germany, I think we've seen a lot of youngsters go out there and have some good times and we know the coaching aspects of what the Germans do with these players.

"However, personally I would like to see him play in the Premier League as it's the best league in the world in my eyes."