by As Jude Bellingham sat behind the top table at the Etihad Stadium, there were three huge images to his right, filling a wall. Kevin De Bruyne, Rodri and Erling Haaland, each holding a trophy for Manchester City’s treble. There is another future in which he would have a great picture to look at, where he could find himself next to Rodri and De Bruyne on the wall and in midfield.
City wanted him last year. They were not alone in that. Liverpool did too, before giving up on the offer. And yet, for one of the most coveted players on the planet, the decision was really simple.
“I had conversations with other teams but when Madrid came in it made no sense,” he said. “The size of the club, the project, the plan for the future, the opportunity to play with great players: I jumped at it. That’s why I made my decision.”
City alone is a cause for regret. The winner could end up as European champions. They could not find Bellingham, or anyone like him. Instead, their midfield additions were Mateo Kovacic and Matheus Nunes: nowhere near Bellingham’s standard, although their combined £75m cost is not far from the £88m paid to Real Madrid, which could rise to £115m. Each is likely to start on the bench when Bellingham take on visiting colors at the Etihad Stadium: he did so last season too, scoring against Borussia Dortmund to top the group. The Champions League quarter-final for Real, with an encouraging tie at 3-3, feels like a whole bigger occasion again.
“These are the games you accept,” Bellingham said. These are the games that have defined Real for many years, and City more recently. If Real did the European Cup and vice versa, their prowess would be enough to lure the boy from Birmingham. It seems a society of mutual respect. There are plenty of fans in the Bernabeu with Bellingham’s name on the back of their shirts, where their present and recent age offer plenty of attractive alternatives, and the Real Insignia still impresses.
“There are many things I could name about the club,” said the midfielder. “I’m grateful every time I go into training and wear the badge on my chest.” That immediate attraction was evident: Bellingham had 16 goals by Christmas, 20 in early February before injury, suspension and loss of rhythm added to a two-month drought. “I started the first half of the season very well,” he said, without a hint of false modesty. Now he accepts the pressure that comes with his status as one of Real’s modern-day Galacticos. “I’m happy to take the criticism on the chin,” he said.
He accepted responsibility at the Bernabeu: first as a false nine and as a scorer, recently due to a change in tactics he had to sacrifice himself for the team. “Over the last few months my role has changed a bit,” he said. “There are things I had to change and do more work for the team which I don’t mind.”
On and off the field Bellingham has a way that has underlined the assessment of Carlo Ancelotti. “He is only 20 years old and we forget about this,” said the Real manager. Perhaps it is a consequence of doing so much at such a young age. Twice now it has been given expensive import status. He was a tracker, a man who had not traveled as far as the route. “I was at Dortmund for three years and maybe I took a path that was unknown to English players abroad,” he said.
He has adapted, on and off the field. Ancelotti helped, facilitating his transformation into a goalscorer. “He has a lot of technical quality and a strong physique,” said the Italian. “He’s a modern player – it’s hard to say he’s a midfielder – but he can cover a lot of space.” Ancelotti made the most of Bellingham in the final third, giving the Englishman a dimension he didn’t quite understand himself.
“The sign of a good manager is that he can convince you that you are a little bit better than you are,” said a player who is already one of the best players in the world. “It gives me the freedom to roam. He is a great person, he makes me feel comfortable. He was great at helping me adapt and understand my own potential. I played more like 10, [whereas at] Dortmund I was deeper and Birmingham all over the place. He’s definitely down.”
If a former ally, Haaland, is now in charge of City, Bellingham has created different alliances. “Vinicius [Junior] and Rodrygo, I play closely with him and when everything connects it’s beautiful to play with players like that. They make it so much easier.” And if it was easy for them to join Real, it made the leap to play and excel so simple.
