It's the start of something new for this young English midfielder.
Credit Mike Hewitt
The 19-year-old has only been playing professional soccer for four years since his debut with Birmingham City in 2019. Since then the spotlight has been bright on the England international. Signing for German club Borussia Dortmund in 2020, Bellingham played over 100 games for the club scoring 23 goals and recording 24 assists in all competitions.
Just recently Jude played his final game for Dortmund on the last day of the season, losing out on winning the Bundlesliga after falling short on the final day. On June 14, it was announced Bellingham had signed for Spanish giant Real Madrid, after three seasons with Borussia Dortmund. The 19-year-old is joining a team full of talented young players and legendary veterans of the game. Real Madrid have won La Liga 35 times and the European Cup (UEFA Champions League) a record 14 times.
Credits Pedro Castillo
Jude made history in 2021 when he was called up for the England Men’s National Team to play in the 2020 Euros, which had been delayed due to COVID 19. He became the youngest player to appear in a Euro match for England after coming on as a sub in England’s 1-0 win against Croatia. Scoring his first international goal against Iran in the World Cup, Jude became the second youngest goal scorer for England at a World Cup.
The England international has had a ton of buzz around his name for the last year or so on where he would end up. For a long time his name was running around the mouths of Liverpool fans on how he would become the next Steven Gerrard or how he was going to be the final piece of their midfield puzzle. So when the news came out that he would be going to Madrid, it came as a bit of a punch to the gut for some Liverpool fans. Over the course of the World Cup, Bellingham was seen hanging around the Liverpool players in the squad, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jordan Henderson. He was also at the 2022 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid, where Real won 1-0. So the hopes of some Liverpool fans on signing the midfielder were valid.
For the three seasons he spent at Dortmund, Bellingham was widely regarded as the golden boy. Sharing the pitch with other young players such as Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho and Giovanni Reyna, he still stood out. He broke records all across the league, especially in the Champions League, where he became the youngest English player to score in the Champions League (at 17 years and 289 days). He is also the third youngest player to captain a Champions League game (at 19 years and 98 days) and became Dortmund's youngest ever captain. In his last season, he was named as Borussia Dortmund's player of the season.
Credit Lars Baron
The love he felt for the club is immense. As stated in his goodbye message to the club on Instagram Bellingham said, “I’ll always keep a place for BVB in my heart and will never forget the impact the values of the club has had on my life.” The future of this kid is bright and anyone who is a fan of the sport will be interested in his progression and success over the next few years.
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