Real Madrid’s signing of Jude Bellingham was a marquee deal for Carlo Ancelotti’s side. And with two rounds of the 2023/24 La Liga season gone, it looks like it could turn out to be the buy of the century.
With three goals from his first two league games, the England star has already written enough La Liga 2023 news headlines to keep his fans happy, and Los Blancos are sitting at the top of the early table.
An opening day fixture against Athletic Bilbao was a good test of Ancelotti’s title hopefuls, and when Rodrygo scored the opener, they had the perfect start.
And Bellingham cemented the victory at Saint Mammes with an inventive finish, volleying his shot down into the ground and over Unai Simon into the net.
Bellingham added another two goals when Los Blancos visited Almeria last weekend. And wearing the no. 5 shirts made famous by Zinedine Zidane, he already looks like a Galactico.
His reactions were lightning when he latched on to a ricocheted shot and fired it into the corner to cancel out Almeria’s opener. And then he showed another aspect of his all-round play when he got on the end of a Toni Kroos cross and headed powerfully home.
Bellingham is the near perfect box-to-box midfielder, strong in the tackle, capable of making driving runs into opposition territory, and his pass gave Vinicius Junior the chance to round off another comfortable win for Los Blancos.
The latest La Liga 2023 betting odds have just nudged towards the Santiago Bernabeu and Ancelotti is delighted with his new man, saying: “He is adapting very well to La Liga, to our style, he’s very good.”
And the Real boss may not have finished his spending just yet. Madrid haven’t really replaced the departed Karim Benzema as yet, and last week, it seemed likely that long-term target Kylian Mbappe was going to stay at PSG for another year.
Here at SBOTOP, we’ve been watching this story closely, and there may be a late twist.
According to reports in the European press, Mbappe is rumoured to be waiting for Los Blancos to come in with a late offer, and it may be that Madrid are delaying their official approach as long as possible in an attempt to reduce the price.
The France star looks like he’ll be playing first team football with PSG this week, but it is being reported that Los Blancos will send a bid in somewhere between the 29th August and 1st September, and it is likely to be much lower than PSG’s €200 million valuation.
Barca tracking Lo Celso
Xavi’s Barcelona have started their title defence with a draw 0-0 away to Getafe and a 2-0 win at home to Cadiz, and they will be very keen that the two-point gap to Los Blancos at the top doesn’t widen.
The Blaugrana have a busy 10 days ahead of them as Xavi tries to get his squad ready for the challenge. Barca are getting close to finalising the signing of Manchester City star Joao Cancelo, and they are also hoping to bring another Premier League star in with Tottenham Hotspur’s attacking midfielder Giovanni Lo Celso on the radar.
Xavi is keen on the 27-year-old Argentine international who he feels will fit into a four man midfield at the Camp Nou, and we could see a move over the next few days.
He has spent the last 12 months or so on loan at Villarreal and knows the Spanish league well, and Lo Celso looks increasingly likely to move to Catalonia.
Is De Paul next for Saudi?
The ever lengthening list of players heading from Europe to the Saudi Pro League is sure to get longer over the next week or so, and the latest name to be linked is another Argentine international, Atletico Madrid’s Rodrigo De Paul.
Al-Ahli have been reported to have tabled a bid of €32 million for the World Cup winner. The Saudi giants are also tracking Napoli star Piotr Zielinski, but their hopes of landing the Polish midfielder were scuppered, and now they have turned to Madrid and De Paul.
Al-Ahli have allegedly been in touch with the La Liga club and the player’s agents, and they have been very successful with their recruitment so far this summer, bringing in Franck Kessie, Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, and Allan Saint-Maximin. And a successful move for De Paul would take their summer spending to €175 million.
The 29-year-old has started both of Los Rojiblancos’ league games this season, a 3-1 win over Granada and a 0-0 draw with Real Betis. Head coach Diego Simeone would not be happy to lose his man, who was a key player in Argentina’s World Cup winning campaign and a big influence on Los Rojiblancos’ fortunes, past and present.
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