Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has been thrown a gauntlet by sporting royalty
(Image credit: Alberto Gandolfo)
After making football look effortless in his short career to date, Jude Bellingham could soon face an altogether different challenge against a sporting GOAT from a different field.
The England star has been offered a game of snooker by the legendary Ronnie O’Sullivan after a friendly Instagram exchange, and seemingly sealed the deal with a virtual handshake.
Bellingham started the interaction after watching the recently released film about the king of the baize.
Ronnie the Rocket, widely considered the greatest snooker player of all time, is the subject of ‘Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge of Everything’.
Bellingham was clearly impressed by what he saw.
The Real Madrid and England midfielder posted a picture on Instagram of himself holding a snooker cue with the caption: “watches half an hour of the Ronnie doc”.
VIDEO: Why Jude Bellingham Can Win England The Euros
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
O’Sullivan responded to the post by writing: “Let me know if you fancy a game.”
Bellingham then re-posted the challenge with laughing and handshake emojis.
O’Sullivan celebrated his 48th birthday this week but shows little sign of letting up in his conquest of major titles.
At the start of December, the seven-time world champion won a record-extending eighth UK Championship title in York, 30 years after clinching the Triple Crown event for the first time.
Jude Bellingham has big ambitions for club and country (Image credit: Marco Alpozzi)
Bellingham, aged 20, is at the other end of his career but is already delivering on his immense potential, scoring a remarkable 15 goals in 17 games since joining Real from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
The midfielder picked up the Golden Boy award this week and also won the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, awarded to the best Under-21 player in the world.
Alasdair Mackenzie is a freelance journalist based in Rome, and a FourFourTwo contributor since 2015. When not pulling on the FFT shirt, he can be found at Reuters, The Times and the i. An Italophile since growing up on a diet of Football Italia on Channel 4, he now counts himself among thousands of fans sharing a passion for Ross County and Lazio.
