Jude Bellingham

Jude Bellingham was 16 when he became Birmingham City's youngest ever first-team player in August 2019. Coaches started him on the left wing, moved him into central midfield to build his confidence, then pushed him forward once they felt he was ready. Head coach Pep Clotet said he felt comfortable in midfield, especially near the opposition box, an instinct that still shapes his game. After one senior season, Birmingham retired his number 22 shirt. Borussia Dortmund paid a reported initial £25 million for him in 2020, a record for a 17-year-old, and he scored on his debut to become the club's youngest goalscorer. He won the DFB-Pokal in his first season and was Bundesliga Player of the Season in 2022–23. That campaign ended painfully: injured and unused on the final day, he watched Dortmund draw with Mainz and lose the title to Bayern on goal difference, then left the pitch in tears, pushing the cameras away. Real Madrid, his club as of 2026, signed him in 2023 for €103 million and moved him further up the pitch, often as a number 10. The goals came at once, ten in his first ten matches, and in October he scored twice at Barcelona, first from 30 yards and then with a stoppage-time winner. "He seems like a veteran," said Carlo Ancelotti. He ended that season with La Liga and Champions League medals, more league goals than any teammate, and the league's player of the season prize. He also dislocated his left shoulder that November, returned in heavy strapping three weeks later during an injury crisis, and had surgery in July 2025. Pundits describe a midfielder who does a bit of everything. Philipp Lahm called him a "complete midfielder" who is "physical and fearless, holds his ground in challenges and wins the ball". The praise keeps returning to his control of the ball, his dribbling and his runs, and how fast he turns defence into attack. As a boy he idolised Zinedine Zidane, and the comparison has followed him. For England his best work has come at tournaments. At Euro 2024 his header beat Serbia, and his 95th-minute overhead kick against Slovakia rescued a last-16 tie that England went on to win in extra time. At the 2026 World Cup he scored seven goals, including two in each of the knockout wins over Mexico and Norway, as England finished third. No England player had ever scored as many at a single World Cup. There is another side to weigh. He was fined in Germany for remarks about a referee, and in Spain he has been sent off for protesting, at Valencia in 2024 and against Osasuna in 2025. When you judge him, think about the runs into the box, the strength in duels and the nerve in big moments, then set the flashes of temper and that troublesome shoulder against them.