Real Madrid kick-started what appears to be a significant summer transfer window by unveiling Jude Bellingham as their newest Galactico on Thursday – in a full kit and all its glory. Los Blancos decided to spend a huge amount in bringing in Bellingham as the successor for Luka Modric or Toni Kroos – or maybe even both.
They managed to beat out competition from the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United. In doing so, the La Liga giants now have a really exciting young midfield core consisting of Bellingham, Fede Valverde, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni – who are ready to replace the old guard.
Jude Bellingham unveiled
Bellingham will probably be given a more free midfield role to dictate the pace of their game and play a major role in creating or scoring goals for them. The Englishman was unveiled as a significant signing, posing with President Florentino Perez at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium and also undergoing the customary press conference that is a tradition for new signings.
The 19-year-old also got the chance to wear the Real Madrid kit for the first time when he went onto the Santiago Bernabeu pitch for a photo-ops operation as well as the chance to greet the Madrid faithful for the first time.
Jude has been given the No. 5 kit at Real Madrid. This is inspired by Zinedine Zidane, who made the shirt iconic by wearing it during his time as a player with Los Blancos. Bellingham is a huge fanboy of the Frenchman and has paid tribute to him by taking that shirt number – which defender Jesus Vallejo surrendered so that the new signing could have his wishes fulfilled.
Fans spot Tottenham Hotspur vibes
There is, although, something that has been irking some fans about the Real Madrid home kit for the 2023/24 season. Los Blancos only recently officially unveiled the kit, which is made of their iconic white colour with gold stripes around the shoulder region and a darker blue shade design around the side areas.
The player name and number are also of the dark blue shade and this has caused some confusion over Madrid’s home kit resembling that of Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. At least from the back, it appears to be strikingly similar to the white and blue design that Spurs have been donning for many years.
Tottenham’s kits are designed by Nike currently, who have been their official shirt sponsor after the club decided to replace Under Armour back in 2017.
Under both Nike and Under Armour, the designers have kept things simple when it comes to Tottenham home kits – using the iconic white colour of the club predominantly with a blue design around the collar region or by the sides.
It appears that Adidas might’ve taken some influence from that when it comes to designing the newest Real Madrid home kit. From the front, the 23/24 Los Blancos kit looks quite slick – having a relatively simple but attractive design that will help it sell like hotcakes among fans.
However, some of the Spanish giants’ supporters have voiced some dismay over exactly how the kit comes off as a cheap replica of Spurs when looking from the back.
There is not much debating to this either, because a closer look at the newest Real Madrid kit does resemble similar to some of the trademark Tottenham designs of the past.
It’s a bit annoying
A lot of Madrid supporters have seen this similarity and are not happy for their iconic kit to be associated with the Premier League underachievers, who have been victims of heavy mockery due to their inability to win major trophies – which is a far cry from a team like the Spanish heavyweights.
Unfortunately for the annoyed supporters, there is not much that can be done about the design of the 23/24 Real Madrid home kit anymore. Adidas has already officially released it and will not make any more changes to it. The fans can either just learn to accept it or wait for the release of the away kits for next season, which will have a different design.
Of course, Bellingham might not be the only world-class player unveiled in this home kit in the summer window. Real Madrid keeps pushing to sign Kylian Mbappe from PSG as the ideal successor to the departed Karim Benzema. Even though fans probably won’t be thrilled to see Mbappe unveiled in this Tottenham-replicating home kit, they’ll be happy as long as he joins them and creates a devastating partnership with Jude to get Los Blancos back to winning major trophies next season.