How Good Is Jude Bellingham?

Vyacheslav Evdokimov, CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL, via Wikimedia Commons

When Birmingham City retired the number 22 shirt after English midfielder Jude Bellingham left the club in 2020, a few eyebrows were raised. It seemed liked the club had made the decision a little too hastily, with Bellingham’s potential not being made quite clear, but it turns out Birmingham knew what they were doing.

Fast-forward three years and the midfielder was signed by La Liga giants Real Madrid, for a fee of £88 million, cementing his place on one of the biggest stages in world football. In this article, we ask ‘How Good is Jude Bellingham?’. We look into his club career, strengths, weaknesses and much more. Read on to become an expert on England’s new prodigy.

How Good Is Jude Bellingham?

Jude Bellingham has the ability to become one of the best midfielders of all time after being signed by Real Madrid for £88 million at the age of 20. His best strengths are ball carrying and being a goal threat, and this makes him more suited to playing as either an 8 or a 10.

Club Career

So far in his professional career, Jude Bellingham has played for Birmingham City, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid.

Birmingham City (2010-2020)

Jude Bellingham made his senior debut for Birmingham City on the 6th August 2019, after starting in the first XI for Birmingham’s EFL Cup first round match against Portsmouth. This was a record-breaking debut, with Bellingham becoming Birmingham’s youngest ever player at 16 years and 38 days old. He was named man of the match after playing 80 minutes.

After quickly cementing his place in the Birmingham team, Bellingham played 44 matches during the 2019/20 season, scoring 4 goals. Unfortunately for Birmingham, word got out about Bellingham all across Europe, and Bundesliga powerhouses Borussia Dortmund came in for his signature.

Borussia Dortmund (2020-2023)

Borussia Dortmund paid £25 million plus add-ons for Bellingham’s services, which made him the most expensive 17-year-old in football history. This move looked like a great move for Bellingham’s development, with Dortmund having a great track record for improving young players, including Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho, and Ousmane Dembélé.

Bellingham played for Dortmund for 3 seasons, making 132 appearances and scoring 23 goals, which was an unbelievable return for a central midfielder at the ages of 17, 18 and 19.

Real Madrid (2023 – Present)

Ahead of the 2023/24 season, Jude Bellingham signed for Galacticos Real Madrid in a deal worth £88 million, confirming that he is one of the brightest midfield talents on the planet. Joining the Madrid ranks with the likes of Vini Jr, Modric, Kroos and Rodrygo, Bellingham has found himself playing more of a number 10 role, and scored 4 goals in his first 3 matches for the club.

The world really is at the feet of Bellingham, who adopted the number 5 shirt after Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane. He is still only 20 years old, so he has lots of developing to do before he hits his prime, but the way is only up for the player, and both England and Madrid fans can rejoice in that fact.

Jude Bellingham’s Strengths

When discussing how good is Jude Bellingham, we have to start by looking at his strengths. As expected, there are many strong facets to Bellingham’s game, which is why he has signed for Real Madrid at such a young age. Some of his biggest strengths are dribbling, goal threat, being a bipedal player, crossing, pressing, tracking back and playing in transition. 

Dribbling

One of Jude Bellingham’s biggest strengths is his dribbling. He is more than capable of carrying the ball significant distances and can beat a man or two in the process. This is where he could really excel as a number 8.

Early indications suggest that he could be better than Lampard and Gerrard in this area, as he has shown on countless occasions while playing for Borussia Dortmund. No matter how much the odds go against him during these dribbles, you can be confident that Bellingham will more than likely hold on to the ball and keep possession for his side.

Goal Threat

The second-biggest strength in Jude Bellingham’s locker is the fact that he is a real goal threat. In his short professional career, the midfielder has already demonstrated his ability to score a range of different goals, whether they’re accurate, finesse shots from outside the box, finishing mazy runs into the box, or turning scrappy chances into real goalscoring opportunities.

His goal threat makes him an incredible asset to have, making him stand out amongst a lot of other great midfielders. We imagine one of his targets will be to surpass the goalscoring records of Frank Lampard, who scored 211 goals in all competitions from midfield. We believe that Jude is more than capable of doing this.

Bipedal

Another key facet to Bellingham’s game is the fact that he is a bipedal player. This means that he is more than capable of using both of his feet, even though he is predominantly right-footed. Not many players possess such a strong ability to use both feet when shooting, crossing and passing, but Bellingham has it.

This puts him at an advantage over other players, because defenders will second guess which foot he’ll favour in certain situations.

Crossing

Jude Bellingham is also great at crossing. As a bipedal player, he has the ability to cross the ball with both feet, and this could really help him rack up lots of assists over his career. At the end of his stint with Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham had 27 assists to his name in 177 career appearances, and we expect this to improve as he progresses through his career.

Pressing

On the defensive side of things, Bellingham also has a lot of strong traits, one of those being his ability to press. Pressing is so important in the modern game, and the England international has already demonstrated his ability to press opponents effectively in order to win the ball back.

During his time at Borussia Dortmund, he would regularly be required to drop in to deeper positions and would press opposition midfield players. This means that he would be ideal playing for a counter-pressing team, like Premier League side Liverpool, who were interested in signing him before he moved to Real Madrid.

Tracking Back

Jude Bellingham has an impressive engine, which means he is effective at tracking back from advanced positions. If you watch him closely, you’ll realise how far he runs during a football match, and this is a great trait to have.

Bellingham’s teammates will be grateful to have a player who is committed to winning the ball back and puts in the hard yards to help out the defence.

In Transition

Having a great engine and being an elite ball carrier means that Jude Bellingham is also excellent in the transition phase of play. He can turn defence into attack with ease, whether he’s winning the ball back and playing a pass quickly up field or winning the ball back and running 50 yards with the ball at his feet.

This trait will help him dominate midfields for years to come.

Jude Bellingham’s Weaknesses

Although Jude Bellingham has a tonne of strengths to his game, no player is without weaknesses and for Bellingham, two key areas for improvement right now are his heading and his long passing.

Heading

At 6 ft 1 (1.86m) Jude Bellingham is not a short player, so you’d assume that heading would be one of his strongest areas, however it’s an area for improvement for him. He currently demonstrates bad timing and a lack of strength when off the ground, but this should improve as he develops a stronger body.

Over time, heading could become an incredibly lucrative area for Bellingham, especially if he holds down a more attacking-based midfield role. In the future, it could be easy for him to add 5 headed goals a season to his tally if he dedicates some time to work on them.

Long Passes

The second area for improvement for Jude Bellingham is his long passing ability. There are many examples of his lofted passes over the top being intercepted by defenders, or they put his teammates in trouble instead.

The need for Bellingham to pass long will be highly dependent on the midfield role that he plays for his teams. If he’s playing in a deeper role, he’ll be much more likely to play long passes, but the evidence suggests that he would be best suited for a more attacking role anyway, which would reduce the need for him to pass long.

Which Midfield Role Is Best Suited to Bellingham?

When answering ‘How good is Jude Bellingham?’, we need to have a look at which midfield role is best suited to him. During his so far, short career, Bellingham has already played a number of different midfield roles including as a 6, an 8 and a 10, but which midfield role is best suited to him? His profile suggests that he could become a world-class number 8 or 10 due to his goal threat and dribbling abilities.

It would be a somewhat waste for him to keep developing as a 6, as his current skill set doesn’t suggest that this is the best role for him to play.

On the international stage, Bellingham has played in most central midfield roles, but it will be important for him to nail down a more attacking role, so that he can become the best version of himself, which is most like a box-to-box midfielder.

What’s Jude Bellingham’s Ceiling?

Jude Bellingham has the potential to become the best midfielder in world football for a long time. He is capable of winning Ballon d’Or awards following his move to Real Madrid, too.

He can surpass the legacies left by England midfielders Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, as well as world superstar midfielders Zinedine Zidane, Kevin De Bruyne, David Beckham, and maybe even Xavi and Iniesta.

Bellingham’s skill set is so vast at such a ripe age, that he has the ability to develop into a world-beater. It would be good to see him dominate La Liga with Real Madrid, as well as moving to a Premier League club at some point to test himself in a more intense league.

Threats to Jude Bellingham’s Potential

With Jude Bellingham having so much potential, there are some threats that he needs to watch out for to ensure that he reaches his high ceiling, and these are burnout, injuries and playing too many midfield roles.

Burnout

The key threat to Jude Bellingham’s potential is burnout, and this is something faced by many upcoming football talents, with their clubs wanting their young stars to play as many minutes as possible. This is something that was faced by Wayne Rooney and could be faced by Arsenal star Bukayo Saka.

Player	Minutes before turning 20
Wayne Rooney	8775
Jude Bellingham	8169
Gareth Barry	7500
Michael Owen	7450
Frank Lampard	2834
Paul Scholes	2552
Steven Gerrard	165

As the table suggests, Bellingham has played a considerable amount of minutes for his age at top flight level, especially when comparing him with England midfield legends Lampard, Scholes and Gerrard.

The key argument here is that sports science and nutrition has come a long way within this time frame, and Bellingham will be getting looked after much better than players such as Wayne Rooney and Gareth Barry. This means that he’ll be at a lower risk of injury and will be able to play many more minutes than them, having the potential to have a long career in the game.

Still, burnout is definitely something that Bellingham and his team should be concerned about, as Real Madrid and the England national team will want him to play as many minutes as possible in the future.

Injuries

Closely linked to burnout are injuries, and like any professional footballer, injuries can be a threat to a footballer’s potential. If Bellingham is managed properly and has a lot of luck along the way, he’ll be able to remain injury-free and will be able to prolong his career well into his thirties.

Playing Too Many Different Midfield Roles

The final key threat to Bellingham’s potential is playing too many different midfield roles. It’s important for Bellingham to discover which midfield position is best for his skill set and to play that role for both club and country.

He’s at risk of being deployed in various positions, some deeper, some further forward, and this means that he might not be able to be a consistent performer on the pitch. The more that Bellingham plays in his most suited midfield position, the better and more likely he’ll be able to reach his potential.

Conclusion

How good is Jude Bellingham? After making his professional debut at just 16 years old, it’s safe to say that Bellingham has the ability and charisma to go to the very top of the game and become one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

As long as he finds his natural role within midfield and stays injury and burnout-free, we have no doubt that Bellingham will score an impressive amount of goals and provide many assists for his teammates, helping him surpass the legacies of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes and many more.

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