Real Madrid can make or break a brilliant footballer - and Bellingham has been told exactly what he needs to do in order to succeed
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham has been advised by Gareth Bale how to succeed in Spain's capital.
Since the Englishman's arrival at the Bernabeu in the summer, he has been arguably the best player in the world, scoring 11 goals and assisting a further three in just 12 games.
Despite his mesmerising start, though, Bale has told Bellingham that he needs to be willing to make himself available for the media in order to keep them onside for the duration of his stay at Real Madrid - something he admits he wasn't willing to do himself.
Bellingham hasn't started life too badly at Real Madrid (Image credit: Getty Images)
"My biggest advice: play the game at Madrid," Bale said on A League of their Own. "Because if you don't play the game and do what the media wants, speak to them - basically be a puppet - you do get a lot of stick.
"You'll see a lot of the Galacticos act like Galacticos, they do what the press want and they play the game of being at Real Madrid. That's probably why it was a bit of a downfall for me."
"I didn't want to do it," he added. "I just wanted to play football and go home, so it probably hindered me and that made them [the media] attack me a bit more. My advice would be to play the game of being at Real Madrid off the field."
Despite all of his success, Bale didn't endear himself to Real Madrid fans (Image credit: Getty Images)
Bale didn't do too play without "playing the game", though. During his time in Madrid he won five Champions Leagues, three La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey trophy, too.
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Sure, the infamous "Wales. Golf. Madrid" chatter didn't endear himself to Los Blancos supporters, but that didn't seem to bother the Welshman too much as he clearly enjoyed his eight seasons at the club.
Bellingham may still only be 20-years-old, but if he ends his time at Real Madrid with a trophy cabinet as stocked as Bale's with over 100 goals and more than 250 appearances for the club, it's likely he won't be wanting for too much else, either.
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.
