Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and the England national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is known for his technical abilities, vision and finishing. In 2023, he won both major awards for male footballers aged under 21: the Golden Boy, for nominees playing in Europe over the last calendar year, and the Kopa Trophy, for the world's best over the previous season.
Bellingham joined Birmingham City as an under-8, became the club's youngest first-team player when he made his senior debut in August 2019, at the age of 16 years, 38 days, and played regularly during the 2019-20 season. He joined Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, and in his first appearance became their youngest goalscorer. Over three seasons with the club he made 132 appearances and won the 2020-21 DFB-Pokal; his performances in the 2022-23 season helped Dortmund finish as runners-up and earned him the Bundesliga Player of the Season award. In 2023, Bellingham signed for Real Madrid for a fee of €103 million.
Bellingham represented England at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-21 levels. He made his first appearance for the senior team in November 2020, and represented the country at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Early life
Jude Victor William Bellingham was born on 29 June 2003[2] in Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands,[13] the eldest son of Denise and Mark Bellingham. His father Mark was, until 2022, a sergeant in the West Midlands Police, and a prolific goalscorer in non-League football. Bellingham's younger brother, Jobe, is also a footballer. Bellingham attended Priory School in Edgbaston, Birmingham. He grew up idolising Zinedine Zidane.
Real Madrid
On 14 June 2023, Real Madrid announced the signing of Bellingham on a six-year contract. Borussia Dortmund would receive a base transfer fee of €103 million with potential to rise by 30% to approximately €133.9 million due to add-ons, from which a sell-on clause would earn Birmingham City around £6 million. He became the sixth Englishman to join Real Madrid in the professional era, and BBC Sport's Andy West thought the move made "perfect sense" for both club and player in context of Real's "long-standing policy of recruiting the world's best young players" and "proven willingness to give young players a chance to succeed at the highest level".
On 12 August 2023, Bellingham marked his debut with a close-range half-volleyed goal from a corner kick in a 2-0 La Liga win away to Athletic Bilbao. Two goals and an assist for Vinícius Júnior in a 3-1 victory at Almería and the winner at Celta Vigo in the two remaining August matches made him the league's top scorer and the first English recipient of the La Liga Player of the Month award. A 95th-minute winner against Getafe on 2 September in his first match at the newly renovated Santiago Bernabéu made Bellingham the third player after Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2009-10 season and Pepillo in 1959-60 to score in each of his first four competitive appearances for the club. Bellingham scored 10 goals in his first 10 matches for Madrid, equaling Cristiano Ronaldo's goal tally after his first 10 games for the club in 2009. On 28 October, Bellingham scored a brace, including a stoppage-time winner, to secure Real Madrid a 2-1 away win against their rivals Barcelona, making him the first Real Madrid player to score in their La Liga and Champions League debuts for the club and in El Clásico. His first goal which was scored from 25 metres (82 ft) was his club's 300th goal in El Clásico and in addition meant he became the first Englishman to score in that fixture since Michael Owen in 2005. Bellingham levelled several records with these goals. His coach Carlo Ancelotti commented: "He seems like a veteran, the goal to level it totally changed the game… Today he was stupendous and shocked everyone with his wonderful goal from the edge of the area." Bellingham was named La Liga Player of the Month for October.
Having received the Kopa Trophy a few weeks earlier, Bellingham was named winner of the Golden Boy for 2023, an award made to the best male under-21 footballer playing in the European top divisions over a calendar year. Bellingham dislocated his left shoulder on 5 November, and returned to action against Cádiz three weeks later only because of an injury crisis at the club. On 26 November, wearing heavy strapping, he assisted the first goal and scored the third of a 3-0 win, which took Madrid top of the table and his personal total to 14 from his first 15 games, breaking the club record jointly held by Pruden, Alfredo Di Stéfano and Cristiano Ronaldo. On 29 November, Bellingham became the first player to score in each of his first four Champions League appearances for Real Madrid in a 4-2 victory against Napoli.
On 10 February, Bellingham scored a brace in a 4-0 league win