Jude Bellingham is a 20 year-old, English midfielder playing for Real Madrid. He moved from German club Borussia Dortmund for £115 million, in 2023, becoming the most expensive British footballer of all time. Currently, he is in the form of his life, with 13 goals and 3 assists in a Madrid Jersey in all competitions. But how has he gone from a simple box-to-box midfielder to one of the most potent players in Europe?

Well firstly, you have to look at the role within which Bellingham plays. With 2022 Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema leaving the club, an enormous hole was left unfilled in the striker spot at the club. Now, nobody had any idea that Bellingham would be the one to fill that gap. But the Englishman has been allowed the freedom and the ability to go forward in attack that means he is able to produce a goal per game ratio of 1.0, which is unheard of for any midfielder.

The standard football formation is a 4-3-3, where there are 3 central midfielders, 2 wingers on either side of the striker. However, Madrid are playing a 4-3-1-2, with Bellingham the 1 attacking midfielder, playing a much deeper role, as well as the 2 wingers, Vinicius Jr. and Rodrygo, playing more centrally, and running wide when Bellingham is driving the ball up the pitch.

According to understat.com, Jude Bellingham has and xG this season of 5.38 in LaLiga. xG shows the amount of goals a player is expected to score, given the circumstances of the shot, like the distance. This shows the midfielder has been exceptionally crucial in front of goal, scoring almost double the number of goals (10) he has been expected to score.

Recently, Jude won then Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony while also being ranked 18th in the rankings for the Ballon d’Or. The Kopa trophy is awarded to the best player under the age of 21. The former Dortmund player was the obvious choice for the award, especially once you look at his performances this year

His manager Carlo Ancelotti, said that ‘[Bellingham] looks like a veteran out there because of his attitude’ and ‘I can't deny that we are all surprised with his vein of form, especially with his level and his effectiveness.’ Some say that Bellingham has the maturity of a 28 year-old, because of his ability on the ball and his effectiveness on the pitch.

He has become one of the most talked-about players in the world, one reason being his iconic celebration ‘Hey Jude’, where he raises both hands in the air and nods. He said in an interview with RFMTV that the reason he does this is because it is a ‘Pride that children imitate me’

The most expensive British footballer of all time, at £115 million. I think Real Madrid and the whole world are thinking now that they got a bargain price for debatably, the best player in the world at the moment.