Graham Ruthven: Jude Bellingham is on course to becoming the first English Ballon d’Or winner since Michael Owen

IT’S difficult to imagine how Jude Bellingham’s first season as a Real Madrid player could have gone any better. The Englishman immediately made himself a central pillar of Carlo Ancelotti’s team and developed a knack for scoring big goals in big games, his latest coming in stoppage time of Sunday’s Clasico against Barcelona.

This came after Bellingham’s late winner in his previous Clasico appearance in La Liga. The 20-year-old has netted 17 goals in just 25 league games this season. He has also registered four goals and four assists in the Champions League with Real Madrid now favourites to go the distance after disposing of Man City in the quarter-finals.

Bellingham will end his maiden season in Spain as a league champion and it’s entirely possible he will lift the Champions League trophy too. If that were to happen, this would be remembered as Bellingham’s season, putting him on course to become the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 to win the Ballon d’Or. That’s the level he’s currently operating at.

 

“Bearing in mind that he’s had to adapt to our club, to a new culture and language, he’s done very well,” said Ancelotti when asked to assess Bellingham’s first season at Real Madrid with the Santiago Bernabeu outfit in contention for a La Liga and Champions League double. “For us, obviously he’s the best.”

A successful Euro 2024 would make the Ballon d’Or a near certainty for Bellingham. Harry Kane could also be in contention if England go all the way in Germany this summer, but it’s hard to envisage the Ballon d’Or ending up in his hands the same year Bayern Munich allowed their grip of the Bundesliga title to slip.

Jude Bellingham since joining Real Madrid:• 36 games • 21 goals • 10 assists • Golden Boy winner• Kopa Award winner • Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year • La Liga POTM x2• Real Madrid POTM x3• Named MOTM in 12 games• Spanish Super Cup winner pic.twitter.com/rG7kzfDgK9

— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) April 22, 2024

Erling Haaland has scored more goals in all competitions than Bellingham this season, but the Norwegian has faced questions over his general contribution to Manchester City. Two years after his arrival at the Etihad Stadium, there’s still a feeling that Pep Guardiola has compromised his principles to fit Haaland into his team. He is an awkward fit for City.

 

Kylian Mbappe could still lead Paris Saint-Germain to Champions League glory with France also considered among the frontrunners to win Euro 2024. That would surely make the forward favourite to lift the Ballon d’Or for the first time in his career. However, Mbappe is still working through some issues with Luis Enrique who hasn’t always been able to get the best out of his star player this season.

By and large, the Ballon d’Or is a meaningless award determined by the narrative of the day. There is, however, an undeniable symbolism to it. It denotes the sport’s legends and records them in the history books – and Bellingham’s achievements this season deserve to go down in history. What he has done is unprecedented. Nobody imagined he would make such an impact.

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No midfielder has ever scored more goals in their maiden season for Real Madrid than Bellingham has this term. So many of his goals have been late winners too. Despite being just 20 years old, Bellingham has shown himself to be a natural leader at the Santiago Bernabeu with the Real Madrid support frequently in the palm of his hand. His goal celebration has quickly become iconic.

Not every new Real Madrid signing is embraced like this – just ask Gareth Bale who was hounded over the course of his nine-year spell in the Spanish capital despite achieving a great deal of success in all-white. Bellingham, however, is special and is still much more to come from him, potentially even a Ballon d’Or. 

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