Jude Bellingham has become official The Guy.
The England international, once a prodigy at Birmingham City and Borussia Dortmund, has taken his game to otherworldly heights since joining Real Madrid in 2023.
Bellingham has fitted in brilliantly at the Bernabeu and has become Los Blancos’ new talisman following the departures of stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema in recent years.
Here are the biggest moments Bellingham has found success in his career so far.
Bellingham wasn’t a particularly prolific goalscorer when he first moved to Dortmund in the summer of 2020. In fact, it would take until April 2021 before he scored for the first time in the Bundesliga.
Now, at the start of 2022, he has started to find his way in front of goal, including scoring the equalizer against Eintracht Frankfurt before Mahmoud Dahoud scored the winner in a dramatic 3-2 win.
When Bellingham first started at Birmingham City, there was a lot of excitement.
After making his senior debut for City aged just 16 years and 38 days, the English sensation made his first home game as a substitute in August 2019, replacing the injured Jefferson Montero in the 30th minute.
His first professional goal wasn’t particularly aesthetically pleasing, deflecting a defender and wrong-footing Adam Federici, but it was enough to cap a comeback at home after falling behind just before the hour mark.
After winning a single DFB Cup with Dortmund, Belli mania quickly spread across Spain after he was signed by Real Madrid.
He scored three goals in his first two La Liga games before scoring his first winner in a series of late goals against Celta Vigo. In an otherwise tight game, Bellingham was there to head in Joselu’s shot from a corner, giving Carlo Ancelotti’s side all three points.
Bellingham still has a long and – hopefully for Three Lions fans – successful career at international level ahead of him with England.
With just three goals in his first 29 appearances, the best is certainly yet to come, although this third attempt once again demonstrated the player’s never-say attitude.
In a friendly against Belgium at Wembley, James Maddison picked out an unmarked Bellingham who fired the equalizer into the bottom corner.
After beating Madrid to beat Celta Vigo at the start of the 2023/24 season, Bellingham was back at it a week later.
Los Blancos were against it after Borja Mayoral gave Getafe the lead in the 11th minute, and it wasn’t until half-time that Joselu equalized.
The winning goal for the hosts came by chance when Bellingham came into play after David Soria’s botched shot from Nacho Fernandez, taking his tally to five goals from three games.
Bellingham, the Champions League and late drama have proved a match made in heaven since his move to Spain.
The electric start to his Madrid career also had an impact in Europe as he scored three goals in three UCL games and his first goal in the competition for Los Blancos was a late winner.
Federico Valverde’s goal caused pinball action in the Union Berlin penalty area and Bellingham was once again in the right place at the right time to shoot on the line.
Bellingham has firmly established himself as Madrid’s main icon in his first season at the Bernabeu and this performance against Barcelona was another example of him stepping to the fore when needed most.
Goals from Andreas Christensen, Vinicius Junior, Fermin Lopez and Lucas Vazquez ensured April’s Clasico was level heading into full-time.
Bellingham, who had already broken Barca hearts earlier in the season, popped up at the back post to parry a low cross from Vazquez, taking Madrid 11 points clear of their rivals at the top of La Liga.
But it wasn’t until Bellingham’s first Clasico that he reached the peak of his success.
After Ilkay Gündogan’s sixth-minute strike left the reigning La Liga champions one goal behind away from home, Madrid appeared to be out of ideas before Bellingham’s howitzer from 30 meters brought his side level.
His truly legendary first appearance in the duel between Spain’s two biggest powers was crowned when he scored the winning goal in stoppage time.