Best in the world in action but not in title, that has been Jude Bellingham since making his big move to the Spanish capital in the summer of 2023. Decisive, reliable, consistent, clutch, inevitable, irresistible, call him whatever. He just can not be kept quite can he ?
Overlook by the voters in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best but has anyone really been better than Jude Bellingham since he completed that famous move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in 2023?
The Englishman joined Los Blancos as a teenager having finished runner up for the Kopa Trophy in consecutive seasons, and on the back of being named the Player of the season in the Bundesliga.
Bellingham went on to have an unimaginable first season with the Spanish giants, winning the LaLiga title as the Best Player, the UEFA Champions League as the Best Young Player, the Spanish Super Cup and the UEFA Super Cup as the MVP in the final.
In the UEFA Champions League, the Birmingham City Academy alumnus had a direct involvement in nine goals from his eleven appearances, including an assist in the final to put a dent on the hopes of a Dortmund comeback.
Only two players, Harry Kane and teammate Vinicius Junior had more goal contributions than him in the competition that season, while he was the joint best playmaker with five assists, as many as Marcel Sabitzer.
In LaLiga, despite playing just 28 games, only two players outscored Bellingham. With 19 goals and six assists, Bellingham led Real Madrid to the title as the top scorer, most goal contributor and voted her best player.
In the Super Cup, he put in a strong performance in a 5-3 win over Atletico in the semi final and assisted one of the goals in a 4-1 win over their Clasico rival Barcelona in the final.
In the UEFA Super Cup, the 21-year-old assisted the second goal in a 2-0 victory over Atalanta and was named the Player of the match.
Bellingham was England’s joint top scorer in the UEFA European championship in the summer and was the country’s most productive player. He also assisted their only goal in the 2-1 final loss to Spain.
When he won the golden boy award in 2023, he received a record-breaking 485 of a possible 500 points from the jury, making him the most deserving winner of the award in history.
Records broken and numbers of Jude Bellingham since his move to Real Madrid
LaLiga
Jude Bellingham, on his debut season as well, broke the record for most goals by a Real Madrid midfielder in a single LaLiga season in the 21st century with 19 goals, six more than James Rodriguez who previously held the record with 13 goals in 2014/15 campaign.
Jude Bellingham also equal the record for the fastest player to reach ten LaLiga goal in the 21st century, taking just ten games – record shared with Robert Lewandowski.
Jude Bellingham equaled the record for most LaLiga winning goals from the 90th minute onwards in the 21st century with three, level with Lionel Messi in 2016-17 and Alexander Sorloth in 2023-24.
Jude Bellingham, with 19 goals, is the highest goalscorer amongst players under the age of 21 in Europe top five leagues last season, with at least five goals more than any other player.
UEFA Champions League
Jude Bellingham (4 goals, 5 assists) became the first English player to register both 4+ goals and 4+ assists in a single UEFA Champions League campaign since Steven Gerrard in 2007-08. He was later joined by Bukayo Saka later last season.
At the age of 20 and 251 days, Jude Bellingham became the third-youngest player ever to either score or assist a goal in six consecutive UEFA Champions League appearances, behind only Kylian Mbappé (18 years, 337 days) and Erling Haaland (20 years, 231 days).
Jude Bellingham made his 34th UEFA Champions League appearance before turning 21, equaling the record for most in the history of the competition for players aged 20 and under – level with Cesc Fabregas.
Jude Bellingham assisted a goal in all three of his finals for Real Madrid in all competitions (three assists), and became the only player to have assisted for the club in three consecutive finals in the last 10 seasons.
England National Team
Jude Bellingham is the first player to take part in three major international tournaments before their 21st birthday, by playing in Euro 2020 and 2024, as well as the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Jude Bellingham is the first Englishman to win the Kopa Trophy, as well as the youngest of his countryman to score a LaLiga goal in the 21st century.
Jude Bellingham’s 95th minute goal against Slovakia is England’s latest goal in a European Championship match in history.
Jude Bellingham became the first player to score for the England men’s team at both the World Cup and European Championship while playing his club football outside of England.
Jude Bellingham became the youngest Englishman to make Ballon d’Or podium since Duncan Edwards in 1957.
Jude Bellingham Being the Best in Action
Bellingham, who wasn’t famous for scoring goals and had just 24 in three seasons with Borussia Dortmund, ended his debut campaign at Real Madrid with 23 goals, while he also has world class statistics in his primary duties.
Duels, dribbles, interceptions, recoveries, passes, fouls won and ground covered, only a few midfielders can compete with the numbers put up by the Real Madrid man.
He took time before getting underway with scoring goals this season but since his first in a 4-0 win over Osasuna in November, he has managed more than any other midfielder in top five leagues with his nine, while only three players, Mohamed Salah (12), Alexander Isak (11), and Patrik Schick (10) have more in that time.
Bellingham has scored double digits of goals in the 80th minute and upwards across all competitions since the start of the 2023-24 season across all competitions. An even more interesting statistics is that he has scored seven times after the 90th minute in that period as well.
incredibly, five of those seven are winners, and two of the winners have come against Madrid’s Clasico rival Barcelona in either of their league meetings last season. He became the first player to score a brace on their Clasico debut since Pedro Arsuaga in 1947.
With a other sensational performance to see Real Madrid to another final, Bellingham is again showing the world why he has been the best and most decisive player since his move to Real Madrid.
While he was overlooked for less deserving players in the Ballon d’Or and FIFA The Best, he continues to be the best in actions and maybe one of these days, it will be his turn to be crowned the best player in title.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
