Jude Bellingham has been imperious for England and Real Madrid at the start of this season - is there anyone in world football matching his levels?
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jude Bellingham standing still, arms held wide with his palms open is becoming an increasingly regular sight for fans of the Real Madrid man, so much so that Wimbledon 2023 tennis champion Carlos Alcaraz is even copying his signature celebration.
While his tremendous talent has been obvious since breaking into the Birmingham City first team at 16-years-old, Bellingham is operating at a ridiculously high level right now. I'll even go as far to say that Jude Bellingham is the best player in world football at this current moment.
After completing a £108m move from Borussia Dortmund to Real Madrid in the summer, Bellingham would have been forgiven for starting the 2023/24 season slowly as he beds into a new team of superstars.
With talents such as Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga all providing competition at the Bernabeu, the Englishman would have been afforded time to try and imprint himself on Los Blancos' midfield. Not that he's needed it.
Four games. Five goals. One assist. Three Man of the Match awards. That's the standard Jude Bellingham has set in his new life in the Spanish capital - a phenomenal record that he has managed to carry into the September internationals with England.
Though his performance against Ukraine came in fits and starts, he managed a goal and an incredibly impressive assist for Harry Kane against Scotland. We can hear you now saying 'it's only Scotland', 'it was only a friendly'.
The same the Scotland who have won all five of their Euro 2024 qualifying games so far? The same Scotland that dispatched Spain 2-0 in March before heading to Norway in mid-June and beating a side containing Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland - two of the best players in the Premier League? And games between England and Scotland are ever friendly.
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Lest we forget that Bellingham is still only three months into being a 20-year-old. Moving to Real Madrid for any player is difficult, especially when you arrive as part of a nine-figure price tag. Being handed the No.5 shirt to emulate the icon of Zinedine Zidane piles more pressure on. All that, and he's not even legally allowed to drink in the United States.
VIDEO: Bellingham is able to play three positions at once for England
He's carrying teams of superstars through difficult moments, and clearly rising head and shoulders above them, too. Real Madrid have relied on him to bail them out in the opening to their La Liga campaign. England have benefitted from his technical quality - evidenced during his assist for Kane's goal against Scotland - while his leadership is also coming to the fray as well.
Should he continue, Bellingham could easily develop into a future Ballon d'Or winner, England's greatest-ever player and, potentially, among the most revered players in history. Right now, there's no doubt about: he's the best player in world football.
That might not last, true. Erling Haaland could go onto bag an insurmountable tally again this season. Kylian Mbappe might finally deliver PSG the Champions League trophy they've so desperately coveted come June. Vinicius Jr. might soon take the mantle at Real Madrid and become the main man.
However, what is clear is that no one is hitting the levels Bellingham is managing on a consistent basis. Six games for club and country so far in 2023/24 and, arguably, just one game slightly under-par compared to the rest. Not bad for a 20-year-old from Stourbridge.
Bellingham delivered a goal and an assist against Scotland (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
