After a few weeks of trailing Girona in the La Liga standings, Real Madrid have reclaimed the top spot in the league table thanks to their poise, system, and sheer star power. But the main catalyst for Madrid’s success this season is none other than the 20-year-old football savant, Jude Bellingham.
Given Real Madrid’s deep talent pool and how Ancelotti’s system is designed, multiple players get the spotlight game in and game out, but the fact that Bellingham headlines almost every Matchday is just an attestation of how great the young Brit really is.
With the England superstar leading the way, the Los Blancos proceed to dominate the Spanish top flight and the Champions League. Sitting pretty on top of Europe’s best clubs and their Spanish rivals, expect Bellingham and his teammates to make regular appearances in the Champions League and the La Liga 2023 highlights reel.
Oh, what a time to be a Real Madrid fan! So now, join SBOTOP and chronicle Jude Bellingham’s journey to becoming one of the best football players in the world.
Journey to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Before donning the white and gold, the prodigious talent could be found in Birmingham City, where he became the youngest player to make a debut for Birmingham’s first team. The Stourbridge-born was only 16 years and 38 days old when he made his debut on August 6, 2019.
In his home debut against Stoke City, the 16-year-old Bellingham came in as a first-half substitute and immediately made his presence felt on the field as he was pivotal in helping his team to a 2-1 comeback, scoring the winning goal with a stunning long-range attempt.
He then went on to start for Pep Clotet a month later and continued his stellar form on the field. His talents were not left unnoticed, and it was only a matter of time until clubs from all over the globe would want his services.
True enough, a little less than a year after his debut in the Championship with Birmingham, Bundesliga juggernaut Dortmund signed Bellingham for €30 million and became the most expensive 17-year-old in football history.
The young Brit found himself playing in Germany for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. Bellingham played beyond his years, and his talents were already on full display during his debut for Lucien Favre when the teenager scored against MSV Duisburg in what was a 5-0 DFB-Pokal victory.
Bellingham took Germany by storm and shocked rivals with his veteran-like composure, passing, scoring, leadership, the whole nine yards. The teenage prodigy cemented his reputation as one of the best young players during the 2021–2022 season, where he commanded the midfield with such poise and dominance, scoring three goals and claiming eight assists for Dortmund.
His command on the field paid dividends for Favre’s squad and was so pivotal to the team that on October 1, 2022, at the age of 19, he captained Dortmund for the first time, becoming the club’s youngest-ever skipper.
With his dominance in Germany, Jude Bellingham was revered as one of the world’s best midfielders, and because of this, he was called to suit up for the Three Lions. He made his debut for the senior squad in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland at Webley as a second-half substitute.
To this day, he’s still one of the “locked” players for Gareth Southgate when it comes to England’s national team roster, but unfortunately for England, Bellingham, along with other England stars, had to withdraw from the latter part of the Euro 2024 qualifiers due to injuries.
Hala Madrid!
Given his meteoric rise in the Bundesliga, it was only a matter of time before a bigger club would want to have Bellingham as a core piece of their squad. Earlier this year, Real Madrid signed Bellingham from Dortmund on a six-year, €103 million contract, and it’s in Madrid that Jude Bellingham became the global phenomenon he is today.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t get enough credit for the way he tapped into Bellingham’s game. Under Ancelotti, Bellingham became one of the most electrifying goal scorers in the game today. In just 13 matches for the Los Blancos, Bellingham has already scored 11 goals, tying his total goal count for Dortmund in the top flight during 2021–22 and 2022–23 combined.
Real’s new poster boy has done so much in such little time with the club. Aside from the handful of games he single-handedly won for Madrid, he was also a finalist in the 2023 Ballon d’Or and just recently won the 2023 Golden Boy Award. The 20-year-old is the first English player to win the prestigious award since Raheem Sterling in 2014 and the first player to win the award with Real Madrid.
Today, he continues to lead La Liga 2023 odds favourites Real Madrid to higher levels in the most competitive of football competitions available for them. Bellingham is currently in the best situation he’s ever been in: a system that caters to his play style, a hall-of-fame coach, and world-class teammates all playing for one of, if not the most prestigious, clubs in the world.
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