Although he is Real Madrid’s finest player thus far this season, Jude Bellingham’s early success has led some at the Spanish team to speculate that the England midfielder may eventually emerge as the game’s best player of all time.

Bellingham is unquestionably outperforming Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, the other contenders for the title, and he seems to be the only one who has realized that there is a vacant spot on football’s throne since Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi left Europe, according to a recent sports editorial.

With 10 goals in 10 games, he has outperformed Cristiano Ronaldo, who had 10 in his first 10 Real Madrid games, but without the three assists Bellingham also had during that span.

The goals have been important too. The flurry of strikes have not included the late cherry-on-the-top goal in a game already won.

On the opening day of the season Bellingham scored Madrid’s second midway through the first half in a 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao – it was the goal that pretty much did for the Basques.

Jude Bellingham has made an instant impact at Real Madrid since joining in the summer

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Bellingham has had a bigger impact at the start of his Madrid career than Cristiano Ronaldo

Sergio Arribas’ goal in the third minute of Real Madrid’s next match against Almeria put them behind, but who was it whose double changed the tide of play before the hour mark? Naturally, it was Bellingham.

He scored the game’s lone goal at Vigo, where Real Madrid defeated Rafa Benitez’s Celta 1-0. There were nine minutes left in the match. And he scored the game-winning goal in the ninetieth minute as Real Madrid defeated Getafe 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Had it not been for his goal in the 94th minute of their first Champions League match of the season, Real Madrid would have had a dismal start to their group campaign, dropping points against the inexperienced Union Berlin.

“I prefer to score goals towards the end of games,” he smiled after the game.

It’s amazing how he avoids the meek clichés that are so frequently produced—better a dramatic victory than a non-dramatic one—without coming across as conceited.

In Madrid’s subsequent match against Girona, Joselu broke the deadlock thanks to an assist from him using the outside of his right foot, much to that of Luka Modric. Then, in Real Madrid’s 2-1 victory over Napoli, he scored in the 34th minute.

He scored the first goal once more and the second in the 4-0 victory over Osasuna. Almost all of his goals have been strikes that have either given Madrid the lead or eliminated the opposition.

Bellingham has scored 10 goals in 10 matches, with many of them securing crucial victories

Carlo Ancelotti has recruited a gem and they would be unlikely to swap him now for Mbappe

Without Bellingham, Madrid’s season would be off to a far lesser extent than it has. The directors, who were anxious at the beginning of the season after another summer went by without them being able to sign Mbappe—a player they have never shied away from acknowledging they are desperate to recruit—as well as the club’s supporters are aware of this.

If they weren’t too busy imitating Bellingham’s goal celebration on the playground, the youngsters would have been yelling, “Where is Mbappe?” by now.

The inconceivable began to be discussed aloud even before the most recent international break: would they now trade Jude for Mbappe? The response is no more and more.

The best young striker in the world might arrive in the summer of 2024, or he might not. The fact that the greatest young midfield player is still with the team and is scoring the goals Madrid believed they would lose by not signing the Frenchman makes it appear less significant now.

Bellingham’s age is an additional benefit.

Claiming that he already rivals Mbappe may sound unrealistic, but even if he doesn’t right now, there’s a chance that he may in the future, as Mbappe is now 24 years old and he is only a few months older.

Major international awards have been won by Mbappe. Because they have Bellingham, England is becoming more and more thought to be the favorite to follow suit sooner rather than later.

Bellingham’s early success may not come as a surprise given that he has been a star since he was 16 years old, when he made his Birmingham debut and was traded to Borussia Dortmund.

Mbappe has been the man they have chased desperately – and he could still join next year

Those pundits and fans in Madrid who doubted his ability to adapt, just because he was British, underestimated how he had already matured far from home in the Bundesliga.

It also helps that he arrives post-Gareth Bale, someone who was never really comfortable engaging with supporters in the same way.

The young supporters have responded to Bellingham not just with Instagram follows – Bellingham has gone from around 10 million to 19 million followers – but also with shirt sales.

It’s normal that his shirt is the most requested because he was the only big signing last summer but all the same the club are delighted with the way the No 5 shirt has flown off the hook in a way not seen even when Zinedine Zidane wore it.

Will all this fizzle out because of the intensity with which it has burned so quickly?

It’s true that his physical capacity is what’s putting him in the penalty area in the 90th minute of matches and in a long season there might be dips in that particular power play.

Bellingham, however, could go on to be their most important superstar for the next decade

Bellingham, though, is more than just a goal-oriented athlete. Having the old masters Luka Modric and Toni Kroos on the same training field as him will rapidly make up for any deficiencies he may have in that area. When the tank runs empty, he also possesses the intelligence to control the game.

Right now, it’s hard to understand why this is more than simply a taste of things to come.

Madrid has never had a player start his time with the team in this manner. Bellingham has been compared to every great former player, which has expressed their incredulity.

It was Zidane at first, then Ronaldo, and Alfredo di Stefano last week. No one at the team has ever expressed more admiration for the Argentine, who was not only the greatest player at Real Madrid during his time, but the greatest player ever.