Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham isn’t scared by the weight of pressure of those that have come before him at the Bernabeu. In fact, he embraces it.
Bellingham has exceeded even the expectations laid out by a €134m price tag, breaking records belonging to Madrid legends Cristiano Ronaldo and Alfredo Di Stefano.
When the Englishman arrived in the Spanish capital, the obvious comparison was another great in Zinedine Zidane – Bellingham took over the number five shirt once worn by the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner and three-time FIFA World Player of the Year.
Given that it is not a number typically worn by attacking players it stands out even more, just as it did when Zidane surprisingly took that shirt after his world record transfer to Madrid in 2001. Not only that, Bellingham also wears the same boots – the latest generation of the iconic adidas Predator.
“Zidane is one of the best midfielders in history. I hope to preserve the legacy of his number and his boots,” Bellingham said this week, via Marca.
“For what it means and the moment, Zidane’s volley [against Bayer Leverkusen in 2002] is the first and best memory that comes to mind with these boots,” he added.
Bellingham has a thirst for success that will be a good fit at Real Madrid, the club that was won more European Cups (14) than anyone else – twice as many as the next best in the list. He recently won the Golden Boy for 2023, the first English player in nine years to do so, and admitted that two previous second place finishes were a chief motivation to finally get his hands on the award.
“Winning trophies like the Golden Boy has come naturally,” he said.
“I had been second twice and the truth is that I didn’t like it. You take it personally when you don’t win. For me, it was about keeping pushing, keeping trying, and In the end I got it.”
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