When Jude Bellingham completed his move to Spanish giants Real Madrid for a fee worth up to €103 million, there was considerable hype surrounding La Liga’s most expensive signing of the summer.
With Carlo Ancelotti’s team already stacked full of superstars and a move for Kylian Mbappe potentially in the pipeline, the player was a significant arrival, but didn’t seem more than a very smart addition to what was already a very good squad.
However, three months later, Real Madrid looks rather different. For the first time in 14 years, Los Blancos face up to a season without Karim Benzema leading the line, a player who played almost 650 games for the club providing 354 goals and 165 assists in his trophy-laden time at the club.
While Benzema’s move was finalised just before the arrival of Bellingham, a superstar replacement was always seemingly going to be the case with club President Florentino Perez rarely failing to splash the cash on bringing in the next superstar to the Bernabeu.
But moves didn’t materialise. Mbappe’s feud at Paris Saint-Germain seems to have ended for the time being, while Harry Kane was deemed to be too expensive at this stage in his career, with the player eventually going to Bundesliga champions and European giants Bayern Munich.
Instead, 33-year-old Joselu was signed, with the player scoring 16 goals for Españyol last year to become the Spanish top goalscorer in the La Liga. While Joselu will be expected to provide depth to the squad, the former Newcastle striker is hardly going to provide the quality and finishing prowess of Ballon D’Or-winning Benzema.
This left Ancelotti searching for an inventive way to fill the void. Ahead of the start to the new season, there was much debate surrounding whether the Italian would choose to keep faith in his 4-3-3 system, with Brahim Diaz potentially coming in to play across the front three.
However, Ancelotti changed tack, choosing to play Bellingham in a much higher role in a 4-4-2 diamond system, utilising the pace and flair of Vinicius and Rodrygo either side of him.
The change was made, and Real Madrid looked no different, better even. Los Blancos began the season in style, comfortably beating Athletic Bilbao at the San Mames before securing effortless victories over Almería and Celta Vigo, with three away wins from three representing the best possible start to the league.
It was clear Bellingham was enjoying life in the Spanish capital. Last year’s Bundesliga Player of the Season award winner shone as the main character in a team full of potential protagonists. Playing just behind Vinicius and Rodrygo, Bellingham quickly became the central figure in a potent attack, with the now-attacking midfielder scoring four out of Real Madrid’s six goals this season, as well as setting up another.
While Bellingham was stepping up to the plate, Real Madrid still had other options and while Bellingham was hitting the back of the net most frequently, many perceived Vinicius to still be the main attacking threat in Ancelotti’s side.
However, with an injury suffered to Vinicius during Real Madrid’s victory over Celta Vigo, Los Blancos have to face up to the prospect of not having their star man for up to six weeks, with the Brazilian set to miss their upcoming league games against Getafe, Champions League qualified Real Sociedad and city rivals Atletico Madrid, as well as the start of their Champions League campaign.
Bellingham will now have no choice but to step up and perform, with Real Madrid’s lofty aspirations now resting on one of their newest and youngest recruits.
Bellingham relishes responsibility
When then 19 year-old Bellingham arrived to the world’s biggest club and 14x Champions League winners, he spoke of many things, however, a desire to learn off of the greats and to experience the challenge of playing under huge expectation was the most obvious of his reasons for his move to the Spanish capital.
When speaking of his new found responsibility at the club, Bellingham said: “I know the demands of the club are great because it’s a great club but I think of that as a brilliant responsibility rather than pressure so I’ll embrace that.
"When you're playing in a professional environment with grown men from the age of 15, 16 you learn to grow up fast and understand responsibility sooner and as I’ve gone to Dortmund I’ve been given bigger roles upon each year and I’ve adapted well to them… they tell me what it takes to be able to carry this responsibility so I hope to continue to do that here."
In addition, Bellingham said: “I think the expectations I’ve had on myself since I’ve started playing football and since I joined Dortmund has always been higher than the expectation anyone could put on me so I know the level that I need to be at and I know the level I want to be at.
You get a good taste of that from the World Cup because there was a lot of expectation after my early performances in the tournament so it’s all brilliant experience and great learning for me. I want to win but I also want to develop my game which I know I’ll do here.”
Sporting the number five shirt, the same one worn by Zidane, expectations surrounding Real Madrid’s seventh English player were always going to be high. However, from his statements, it is clear that Bellingham relishes the responsibility that has been laid upon him in Spain.
When describing why he chose to move to Real Madrid over Liverpool, Bellingham underlined the importance of playing in Europe’s elite competition describing it as the ‘biggest stage’, something Liverpool have not qualified for this season, and of winning everything the game has to offer, with his expectations seemingly running in tandem with the demands of the Madrid fans.
He said: “When you ask me what my biggest ambitions are in the game, it’s to win everything. And I’m not afraid to say that. Everyone should have that goal I feel like as professional footballers.”
With injuries to Vinicius and the departure of Karim Benzema, Real Madrid lacks the figureheads of its attack which have taken the goalscoring burden for the last few seasons. However, with Bellingham, Real Madrid have a player who will not shy away from the demands and expectations of the Los Blancos fans but instead strive to fufill them.
Bellingham excelling in a more advanced role
With Ancelotti choosing to pick Bellingham to play in an advanced attacking midfielder role, there were doubts over how Bellingham could adapt. Bellingham had previously played in a box-to-box midfielder role for both England and his previous clubs, Birmingham City and Borussia Dortmund.
At Dortmund, Bellingham would always feature in the midfield three, acting as a threat going forward but also keen to do his defensive duties, with the player leaving a large part of the creative side to either Marco Reus or Julian Brandt.
At Madrid, it has been something of a role reversal so far, with the player encouraged to present an attacking threat principally. His goals so far have represented this change in position, with Bellingham netting classic number nine goals, first at San Mames where he volleyed in from a corner, before scoring from just outside the six-yard box against Almería - alongside an excellently headed goal from a Toni Kroos cross.
His most recent successful effort came against Celta Vigo where he scored from a classic poachers effort, finding the back of the net from a back post diving header from a corner to break the deadlock.
For Ancelotti, the injuries to Vinicius and the lack of a clear number nine have seemingly been remedied by Bellingham’s new found role, with his athleticism and strength key in his success at the top end of the pitch, with all of the Englishman’s goals coming in the box.
In addition, Bellingham has become the only Real Madrid player to score a goal in all three of their first starts for the club since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2009.
According to fbref.com, Bellingham has made 15 progressive carries which only stands behind Fede Valverde and Aurélien Tchouameni. However, it is his xG statistic compared to goals scored that stands out, with the player’s xG at 1.1 compared to a goals scored of 1.38 demonstrating his clinical nature at the top end of the pitch for Real Madrid.
Bellingham has drawn plenty of plaudits for his quick adaptation, with Ancelotti describing how: “He has plenty of personality and has adapted very quickly to the team's system. It seems like he's been with us for a long time and he's a very talented player.”
Ancelotti had previously said: “He moves well off the ball, is smart and arrives at the right time. His ability is incredible."
With Bellingham excelling at the heart of Real Madrid’s attack, Ancelotti’s immediate concerns will have been eased, with the hopes and aspirations of Los Blancos resting largely on a young Englishman’s shoulders for the near future.