After winning the Golden Boy Award earlier this week Jude Bellingham spoke about his road to being crowned European's best young player and how he is looking ahead to the near future
(Image credit: Alberto Gandolfo)
Jude Bellingham took home two trophies at the Golden Boy on Monday night, as he was chosen by both a journalists panel and a fans poll.
At the end of the ceremony, Bellingham addressed those present by looking back to his early years and indicated how he has developed into the player he is nowadays.
“I think it’s as a result of playing with great players,” said the midfielder. “When I was younger and I played in the academy of Birmingham, I always had that kind of responsibility to help a team and to try and win and drive us forward. I’m just very lucky to be fair, I’ve played with some amazing players since I’ve started playing football and I just stole loads of little techniques of them.
Jude Bellingham was the big winner at the Golden Boy awards (Image credit: Alberto Gandolfo)
“I can’t be more grateful really for all the people that I’ve met along the way that have helped get me to the point that I am at now.”
During his presentation, a video was shown on stage with all the previous winners, with many of them going on to enjoy illustrious careers – Bellingham later reflected, “All of them are top players, went on to have unbelievable careers after they won the award, so to join that list is such a big honour.”
“For me I probably say Rooney was the biggest influence,” he responded, when asked who had been an inspiration in particular, revealing the England star made a big impact on him when he was young. “Growing up, obviously being from England and the way he played. But there are so many of the players [in that list] that I’ve taken bits from, so I’m grateful to join that list.”
VIDEO: Why Jude Bellingham Can Win England The Euros
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With Real Madrid, Bellingham is already at one of the biggest clubs in the world and the midfielder showed his gratitude at being at Los Blancos. The 20-year-old also spoke about his ambition to win things with his club and country, which must sound like music to the ears of Three Lions fans who are gearing up for the Euros next summer.
“I’m so fortunate that I’ve managed to get the opportunity to play for them, it’s not an opportunity that everyone gets, I’m so grateful and enjoying every day the feeling of being a Madrid player,” he said.
“The goals always have to be big, you have to want to win everything, you know, I think it’s normal, the expectations are huge at a club like Madrid and playing for a country like England as well, so I’m kind of sandwiched in between a lot of pressure, but you know, it’s something that I enjoy, it’s a privilege to represent these teams.
“Obviously, I can’t make any promises, but I’ll give absolutely everything I’ve got to try and help the team win trophies.”
Jude Bellingham has big ambitions for club and country (Image credit: Marco Alpozzi)
Towards the end of the ceremony, Bellingham was applauded by a group of young children, to which he responded enthusiastically and explained what their support meant to him.
“It’s a great honour to have this responsibility of being a role model to the kids,” he said. “I was once them, you know, where you look at people for motivation. I try and help everyone and especially the kids at the back there [in the ceremony room]. I would just say: keep enjoying football, keep learning and keep playing with a smile.”
He finished the evening in style, thanking everyone once more and concluded with a playful nod.
“Thank you very much for these awards, obviously it means so much. It’s going to be a tough one to get through customs I think, but hopefully they make some exceptions.”
Arthur Renard has been writing for FourFourTwo since 2013, when Ronald Koeman hosted him for a Readers interview in a small room in stadium De Kuip. Two years later Arthur moved to London, where he still lives and from where he covers English football, while he has also been travelling the world to cover events like the World Cup and Copa America.
