How well will Jude Bellingham perform this season?

Jude Bellingham shook Spanish football at the start of his spell as a Real Madrid player last season as the team stormed to a blistering start in Domestic and European football.

Bellingham was a teenage sensation who broke out at Birmingham. He was so good that they retired his shirt number when he left.

The youngster’s next step was a spell at Borussia Dortmund, where he hoped to prove he was better than featuring in the English championship.

Between 2020 and 2023, he was in terrific form at Dortmund and took his game to the next level at the German club.

He was unlucky not to win the league title in his final season in Germany, and all the world’s top clubs wanted to sign him.

Soon, it became a battle between Liverpool and Real Madrid and Los Blancos inevitably won.

Bellingham was destined to be a Galactico and he had shown at Dortmund that he was a fearless teenager who had the heart of a lion and was unafraid of a challenge.

At 20, he became the latest Galactico in Madrid, and everyone knew he would have a good time in the Spanish capital.

However, we did not expect him to be so good in his first few weeks at the club, and we certainly would have understood if he took so much time before shining.

Bellingham took us by surprise and began to produce stunning performances from his first week in Madrid.

The midfielder quickly became the leading scorer in La Liga and was at the top of that chart for several weeks despite the quality of strikers in the Spanish top flight.

First season success

Bellingham eventually did not win the Golden Boot in Spain as Alexander Sørloth and Artem Dovbyk fought for it, with the latter eventually scoring the most goals in the Spanish top flight.

However, Bellingham scored 19 league goals in his first season as a Madrid player, helping Madrid win La Liga. He also scored four times in the Champions League, helping Los Blancos regain their European crown.

It may have been his first season in Spain at the biggest club in the world, but Bellingham has cemented his legacy as one of the best players in Madrid’s history after one season.

He is in line to win the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, and he is just 21.

In the 2023/2024 season, Bellingham set a high standard for himself, and because he is so young, we now expect so much from him.

He would now be judged on how he performed last season every time he steps on the pitch, but he does not seem like a player who will not pass the tests he will face.

Madrid has added some new players to its group, with Kylian Mbappe and Endrick expected to continue receiving some limelight from him, but that could make him even better.

The goal burden will be reduced from his shoulders, and that freedom could help him find the back of the net even more often.

The arrival of Kylian Mbappe

In a move that has been in the making for a long time, Kylian Mbappe has finally joined Real Madrid and will be a teammate of Bellingham.

The duo can make the team unstoppable, but does Real Madrid need Kylian Mbappe now?

The Frenchman is the record goalscorer at PSG and bagged 164 league goals for the Ligue 1 champions before leaving them at the end of last season.

He arrives as a player who has won the World Cup and reached the competition's final twice, scoring a hat trick in his latest final.

Mbappe’s best position is on the left, where Vinicius Junior plays now, so it remains unclear where he will play for Madrid. Jude Bellingham will help the French striker break some records at the Bernabeu.

Pictures of them bonding while training, including with Vinicius, have already been flying around, which is great for fans who buy Real Madrid tickets.

If those three can create an unbreakable bond on the pitch, Madrid will be as unpredictable as ever.

However, Mbappe's arrival is very likely to change Bellingham’s game because we will no longer expect him to score the goals that lift the team.

Balon d’Or contender

England was one of the worst teams to watch at Euro 2024, but they reached the final and one of their key men in the competition was Jude Bellingham.

Although he was in terrible form, the midfielder scored some important goals for his nation, which helped them reach the finals of the competition.

He wanted to win the Euros, and some of us know why. It was an important achievement if he wants to win the Ballon d’Or.

Having won the La Liga and Champions League, success on the international scene would have made it almost impossible for him not to win the Ballon d’Or.

However, he remains a contender, and there are so many Real Madrid players who are contenders and can win the award.

The 2024 edition would be tough for Bellingham to win. However, the midfielder will have his eyes on the 2025 edition, so that will need him to do even better this season.

Madrid relied on him so much last term, but he was very consistent and we were wrong when predicting some games that he will struggle to shine in the last campaign.

His team will need him to do even better this season, and we expect the English youngster to rise to the occasion.

How will Madrid’s season go?

Real Madrid as a club is bigger than Jude Bellingham, and the team’s overall performance will also affect his individual showing.

Los Blancos are always the favourites to win everything at the start of every campaign, and this one is no different.

They have had a good summer with the addition of Mbappe and Endrick to their squad, while Jesús Vallejo has returned from his loan spell and will be a part of the team.

One of the best decisions they have recently made was to extend the contract of Carlo Ancelotti as their manager because it is tough to see another gaffer who can coach the current Madrid team.

He will now supervise a young team he has worked with for some time, and we expect them to have a good time.

Finding a solution for Mbappe’s best spot on the team will be tricky, but if the Frenchman does well in the middle and Vinicius keeps his place out wide, Madrid will have a brilliant season.

This will also affect Bellingham’s campaign as he needs to be in a system where he can function properly with other teammates, whether it means picking out passes for Mbappe or stepping in front of him to score.

Conclusion

Bellingham has shown that he is undoubtedly one of the best talents we have ever seen, but now he needs to prove that he is not a one-season wonder.

More eyes are on him now as this is his second season as a Madrid player, so it will be interesting to see if he performs better than the last one.