The grace, goals, and excellent manners of Jude Bellingham have delighted Real Madrid supporters. At just 20, he is already sporting a swagger and sense of flair, filling great Zidane’s No. 5 shirt.
in a Gucci hem. Suit, socks, and loafers. focusing on the camera below. Leather throne in red.
Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium. Spain’s rough Basque country. Boots: Adidas JB5. wearing the old No. 5 of Zinedine Zidane. Staring the home supporters down. Goal achieved.
He looks good in it all. Jude Bellingham exudes confidence. Both photographs have quite similar body language. Arms spread, chin up, chest out, he appears to be swallowing the world.
The locals were incensed with Bellingham’s “here I am” celebration and goal on his Real Madrid debut. England’s own, however he’s only 20 years old and not much is known about him. Not a front-page investigation of every shudder and gulp from a foreign field a la Gazza.
Our Jude will play today in Real Madrid’s remodeled stadium, which took four years and £860 million to complete. It features a retractable pitch and roof, a 360-degree scoreboard, and an exquisite steel wrap-around that will project pictures of legendary Madrid players from the team’s past.
Jude Bellingham, an Englishman, is shown at the Savoy Hotel in London wearing a Gucci suit and shoes. Photo courtesy of SWM.
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Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid is the LaLiga Player of the Month.Shortly after 3 p.m. local time, the youthful magician made his home debut for the grand opening.Bellingham, a native of Stourbridge, will be following in the footsteps of legends if the 58-meter-tall, space-station-style arena’s wavy steel siding is any indication of the kind of person who would dominate teams like Zidane.With four goals in his first three games, he has had an incredible start to the season and was named August’s Player of the Month by La Liga. However, it goes much beyond that. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and chief executive Jose Angel Sanchez have been taken aback by the player’s calmness and confidence in handling the dressing room, supporters, and media.Both of them are beaming as if they had just won the mansion in Monte Carlo. It could have been a mistake to bet everything on Bellingham rather than attempt to sign Kylian Mbappe away from Paris Saint-Germain. If the inability to sign the France international had led to a poor start to the season, today’s opening home game may have been a major letdown, with fans forgetting their beautiful surroundings and chanting, “Where is Mbappe?”Rather, following three victories reminiscent of Bellingham, the PSG forward is barely mentioned, as it seems Real Madrid has an equally significant situation on their hands.Zidane is the greatest football player to come out of France, assuming Mbappe is the second best. Reminiscences of his initial days at Madrid helped him put everything into context.In his debut season, Zidane faced taunts from the supporters. Additionally, when he wowed the Madrid media at his first press conference, he was 29, not 19, Bellingham’s age.He wasn’t English, either. The English are not good travelers. They don’t mix, they don’t adapt. That is the common belief. It is something that all British people share, and the Spanish believe Gareth Bale has bolstered.
Bellingham joined Madrid from Borussia Dortmund this summer for £88.5m rising to £113.5m
The 19-year-old Brummie was photographed visiting the Savoy Hotel in London wearing a variety of Gucci ensembles.This is one of the reasons Real hasn’t recruited an Englishman since Jonathan Woodgate and Michael Owen in 2004. They received a bid for Jack Grealish in 2021, shortly before Manchester City acquired him from Aston Villa, but they have long since acted proactively rather than reactively in the market. Instead, that summer, they signed Eduardo Camavinga, a youngster they had been following since he was 16 and playing for the Rennes minor squad.When Andres Manzano, the director of football of Spanish third-tier club UE Cornella at the time, informed Madrid about a player he had spotted at Birmingham’s Wast Hills Training Ground in 2018, Bellingham became interested in the player.UE Cornella is well-known for developing young players, having produced players like Jordi Alba and David Raya of Arsenal. Manzano had a collaboration arrangement with Birmingham, meaning he would work closely with the academy director of Birmingham, Kristjaan Speakman, for one week each month.When Manzano was fifteen, he saw Bellingham play in an Under 23 game. In the weeks before Bellingham signed a contract with Madrid, he told me this: “I asked Kristjaan how old the No. 7 was five minutes into the game.” His level of maturity and calmness amazed me. I was so surprised to learn that this player was born in 2003 that I had to ask Kristjaan twice.Manzano was likewise ahead of the curve when it came to comparing himself to Zidane. “Zidane is the player I see most in him,” he remarked. It’s partly due to its adaptability. He can play wide or central midfield in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation. He is in the range of a No. 8 to a No. 10.He is a charismatic all-around midfielder who excels with the ball and possesses an impressive body due to his size. Although I dislike comparisons, if you ask me, I would draw that particular one. He makes me think of Zidane.”I had the privilege of witnessing the growth of Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, and Leo Messi as they competed against our teams during that period.” I’ve watched them grow and play when they were fifteen and sixteen years old. Jude was obviously a very good player.Borussia Dortmund was close to signing Bellingham until Manzano informed Real Madrid about him. Yet, Juni Calafat, Madrid’s top talent scout, started compiling a dossier on the young player who ultimately joined the team this summer for a fee that eventually increased to £113.5 million.
Both the media and Real Madrid’s hierarchy have been impressed by Bellingham’s attitude
The Birmingham child is currently being compared to French icon Zinedine Zidane by Spanish media.
In any case, Bellingham most likely would not have traveled straight from Birmingham to Madrid.Before moving to Dortmund, he traveled to Carrington to meet with Manchester United, but it made more sense to go somewhere where he would be playing consistently. Even if the Premier League offered more money, the people who advised him along the way—from his season in the Championship at Birmingham to Germany and the transfer to Real Madrid—always had good sense.Before he was introduced in June, that choice to decline a Premier League offer won hearts and minds at Madrid. And then there was that incredibly powerful news conference.Experienced reporters covering several high-profile signings for Madrid, they were taken aback by Bellingham’s presentation. He was favourably compared to older Spanish players who would become icy in a crowded press conference.Later on in the summer tour, during a post-match interview, one in-house journalist was astonished by Bellingham’s gesture of shaking their hand and appreciation. The politeness made an impression.Bellingham’s school days have given him a basic understanding of Spanish. As a result of his newfound star qualities, the local media is enthralled with him and he is already taking courses and occasionally using Spanish phrases in his dealings with them.Columnist Tomas Roncero described the Stourbridge genius last Saturday, as though the Spanish should already know the Dudley market town as well as they do London or Manchester.He said, “This Englishman with the Zidane-like demeanor has four goals in three games, which is more than Eden Hazard scored in four years.”
Bellingham looks at home in Madrid and has already integrated well with the Real squad
Bellingham has a good chance of surpassing David Beckham’s record for most English goals in Madrid.Once more, Zidane gets compared, and this time it’s not simply because he has the same shirt number. On his debut, Bellingham scored his first goal—a volley into the ground after a corner—quite similar to a goal Zidane had scored for Real Madrid. And he displayed all the balance and talent of the ancient maestro in a long, deft, stumbling run past many defenders.There have been rumors that he may pass certain milestones sooner rather than later due to his rapid start. He will tie David Beckham, who scored 20 league goals in four seasons—the most of any English player playing for Real Madrid—if he manages to score 16 more goals.When Perez signed his first British player in 2003, it was Beckham. He had the same kind of star quality and charisma off the field, which appealed to Madrid’s ambition to become the team that makes football fans fall in love with it worldwide.Bellingham’s self-assurance in taking on the role of Gucci model and his impeccable appearance in the blue suit with white polka dots are telling. He will represent the team moving forward.But the audacious self-assurance is not brash. The fans who assemble at the club’s Sports City complex find it hard to believe that Bellingham has been showing up to training at Valdebebas in a Madrid taxi. In addition, his work rate has been just as impressive on the field as his goals.”When Madrid doesn’t have the ball, he’s just another defensive midfielder,” says Santiago Canizares, a former Real Madrid goalkeeper who is now a television analyst. Then, when Madrid has the ball and he is outside the box, not a single attack is made.Perhaps the things that are giving Gareth Southgate the most thought are the goals and the attacking threat. Though keeping in mind that Ancelotti no longer has Karim Benzema, to what degree does he employ Bellingham similarly to Carlo Ancelotti? The England boss stated this week, “He is obviously playing in a slightly different role because they lost Benzema.”Since Real is playing on a diamond, he is situated a little higher on the field. However, he is a forward-running player who can have an impact on games whether he is a No 8 or a type of No 10. For us, that was evident throughout the World Cup.Bellingham has demonstrated his ability to play as a No 10 during his growth with the national squad, so England won’t be surprised by his skill.
Bellingham’s impact at youth club Birmingham was so profound they retired his shirt number
Carlo Ancelotti, the manager, will be happy with Bellingham’s midfield contributions thus far.Bellingham was coached by former England youth coach Kevin Betsy at the Under 15, 16, and 17 levels. This week, in an interview with Diario AS, he said that although coaches were aware of Bellingham’s ability to score goals at a high rate, they initially controlled his offensive style in order to put pressure on him to strengthen every aspect of his midfield lineup.Betsy stated: “I always knew Jude could score goals for England, but we lacked players who could create and control possession under pressure, drop and receive from the goalkeeper or defense.” Jude’s ideal position was No. 10, but we chose to start him there for numerous games.Jude would have played as a No 10 if we had wanted to win every game, but that wasn’t the best option for him or the future of the nation.The last sentence stands out the most. Not only will Bellingham benefit personally, but England will also benefit if his outstanding start at Madrid is any indication of things to come.The 30-year-old English striker, Kane, is off to a great start at Bayern Munich and should bring home a ton of hardware from Germany. However, Bellingham, who is ten years younger than him, is poised to lead one of the biggest football teams in the world for ten years in addition to winning championships.When he saw rookie Kepa Arrizabalaga leaving the field at the conclusion of the match, he demonstrated his leadership last week by pushing him in the direction of the visiting Real Madrid fans and gesturing for them to praise him by pointing to the top of the keeper’s head.It was also clear from the manner he started an early-season players’ away day on the French Riviera and ended up being its focal point.In order for his team to secure a victory—their third in a row this season—Ancelotti had given them the weekend off.However, with time running out at 0-0, Bellingham’s late goal secured a trip to the Verde Beach Club in Saint-Tropez and forced a Sunday training session.Following the players’ outing, teammate Aurelien Tchouameni wrote on Instagram, “What a day.””Belli,” as his teammates refer to him, relished the downtime he spent with French players Ferland Mendy and Camavinga as well as Brazilian Rodrygo.Even the most senior Madrid players expressed their gratitude for a free weekend in Spain. David Alaba wrote, “Boy is on fire,” on social media. “Baller,” Antonio Rudiger continued. “Magic Jude,” veteran striker Joselu remarked.If Vinicius Junior hadn’t had to stay in Madrid to get a scan for a hamstring issue, he would have attended Bellingham’s celebration.Sales of Madrid shirts are back to 2021 levels, when they peaked during the team’s most recent Champions League victory. The Englishman has surpassed him as the player whose name and number are most sought after by supporters.That’s not to say that “Vini,” who has started imitating Bellingham’s goal celebration, is acting jealously. With an average age of 22, he, Fede Valverde of Uruguay, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Camavinga, and Tchouameni might form the front six of the Madrid starting lineup for several years.They have become close to the new recruit, who also made sure he went out to dinner with other recent summer hires Arda Guler, 18, Fran Garcia, 24, and Brahim Diaz, 24.At the England youth level, where the focus was on players talking to each other to make strong bonds that would be obvious when things went rough on the pitch, he developed his talent for team building.In the AS interview, Betsy described how young players sometimes find it difficult to interact with others because they are engrossed in their phones and iPads. But not Bellingham, who, at thirteen, was already highly developed cognitively.
Bellingham pictured in a quintessentially English setting, at the Savoy Hotel with a cup of tea
Fans of Real Madrid are already accustomed to Jude Bellingham’s legendary celebration.
He will be the star attraction at the Bernabeu today for the 14-time European champions. Last Friday, he wrote on social media, “Time to see my new home.”After that, he’s going to play for England. Is the nation aware of what it is dealing with? Spanish coach Manzano comments, “England fans are lucky to have a player who’s going to dominate for years.
“Real Madrid has witnessed numerous global football royalty throughout the years, including players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Alfredo di Stefano. They are becoming more and more certain that Bellingham is the heir apparent.And the leather bench-seat he’s smirking in for the Gucci photo shoot at the Savoy? It’s the renowned “red lift” of the hotel, which was London’s first electric elevator. He appears majestic in it. And upwards. That seems to be certain.