Bellingham - The new pride of English football.

BINH DUONG

By joining Real Madrid, central midfielder Jude Bellingham has become the sixth English player to play for the "Los Blancos". Before Bellingham, the Spanish royal club had previously signed Laurie Cunningham, Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Jonathan Woodgate.

The signing of Bellingham (center) helps Real Madrid gradually complete their new "Galacticos" squad alongside existing young stars like Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni. Photo: Getty Images

“Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have reached an agreement for the signing of Jude Bellingham, who will be with the club for the next six seasons. Bellingham’s presentation ceremony will be held on June 15th,” Real Madrid’s official website confirmed. This announcement also concludes the race for Bellingham’s signature, which also involved several other big clubs such as PSG, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United.

According to Mail Sport, Real Madrid will pay Borussia Dortmund around £88.5 million to sign Bellingham, but this could rise to £113.5 million due to performance-related add-ons worth £25 million – which are reportedly achievable. Bellingham would then become the most expensive footballer England has ever produced.

Bellingham rose through the ranks of Birmingham City's (England) youth academy and shone brightly in the Championship before joining Borussia Dortmund in Germany. Despite being only 19 years old, he was already the captain and a key player, helping his team compete for the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich until the final matchday of this season. Bellingham left Borussia Dortmund after contributing 24 goals and 25 assists in 132 appearances.

Bellingham still holds the record for the youngest player in Birmingham City's history (making his debut at 16 years and 38 days old). He was first called up to the England national team at the age of 17. There were two surprising things about Bellingham's decision to leave Birmingham City in 2020. Firstly, he chose Borussia Dortmund instead of the prestigious Manchester United, continuing his career outside of England. Previously, English players were not considered a high-quality export product. But in modern times, that is changing, partly thanks to Borussia Dortmund. The German club has built its reputation by nurturing young players and, importantly, allowing them to leave at the right time for substantial transfer fees.

The second surprise was that after selling Bellingham, Birmingham City decided to retire the number 22 shirt that the young star had worn. Honoring a player by permanently retiring a shirt is rare in England, even for top players. The late legend Diego Maradona wore the number 10 shirt for clubs like Argentina Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, ​​Napoli, Sevilla, Newell's Old Boys, and the Argentina national team. Since 2000, Napoli has retired the number 10 shirt to honor the "Golden Boy" who brought them two Serie A titles and a UEFA Cup during his seven years with the club. Yet Birmingham City did the same for a very young player who had played fewer than 50 games in the English second division.

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