Jude Bellingham looks to be loving life at Real Madrid and rightfully so. The 20-year-old English midfielder has experienced on of the most impressive purple patches by a player at a new club in recent history.
Bellingham has managed to score 10 goals in his first 10 games for the Galacticos, a feat only ever achieved by Ronaldo prior to the England international. It is safe to say that Bellingham finds himself in elite company.
Wayne Rooney, who was recently made Birmingham City’s manager, was also quick to shower Bellingham with praises, lauding him by saying that he is showcasing his class on the pitch and he even has the potential to become the best player in the world.
He (Bellingham) is in very good shape. Currently he is one of the best players in the world. In my opinion, he is a future captain. I am really impressed by how he handles himself, how he speaks, how he plays; he is already a leader in his 20s.
However, Rooney was also quite wise in his advice to the fans and journalists. He said that while Bellingham’s form is something that only a few players experience in their career, he won’t always have good or great games and is bound to make a mistake or put a wrong foot at some point in time.
Rooney in his interview, highlighted the pressures of playing for a big club like Real Madrid. He urged fans and journalists to protect a talent like him when he does have an inevitable drop in form.
He also explains how important it is to drown out the noise from outside and touched up upon the notorious and infamous nature of Madrid fans when their players have a particularly poor game.
Bellingham will have a downturn and it’s important that we don’t kill it when that happens. It will happen. But we have to support it. It’s hard to silence the noise. You play for Real Madrid. One bad game and they could attack you
A player who had a similar rise to Bellingham and who also earned a 100m move to the Galacticos was Welshman Gareth Bale.
Despite Bale scoring many important goals for Los Blancos, when he was facing a drought in front of the goal and drop off in performances, Madrid fans were quick to berate him with boos and abuses.
From an English POV, Rooney knows about the pressures of playing for a big club at quite a young age and what he has said about Bellingham isn’t far from what history has showcased.