A new report in Spain has branded Jude Bellingham the ‘big loser’ following Kylian Mbappe’s arrival from Real Madrid.
After his £113 million move to Madrid in June 2023, Bellingham was central in his first season, scoring 23 goals to help his side win LaLiga and the Champions League.
But he has yet to hit the ground running in the 2024/2025 season and has now been ‘displaced’ as Madrid’s main man, the newspaper said. IF.
AS believe Mbappe is now seen as the star of the show after finally getting his dream move to Madrid, with Carlo Ancelotti forced to change his tactics to accommodate the Frenchman and Vinicius Jr, who have scored 16 goals between them.
This has led to a change in role for Bellingham, who thrived as a number ten and even false nine last season, but now plays deeper up the pitch.
Jude Bellingham has had a disappointing start to the season at Real Madrid
He is seen by the Spanish press as the ‘biggest loser’ of Kylian Mbappé’s arrival in Madrid
Mbappe has scored eight goals this season – the same as Vinicius Jr. – while Bellingham are yet to get away, despite scoring a sensational goal in Los Blanco’s last campaign.
‘Bellingham in the maze’: Spanish outlet claims Bellingham ‘displaced’ by Mbappé
By this stage last season he had scored thirteen goals, including two in a comeback win against Barcelona.
The England star took little time to win over Madrid fans, who regularly serenaded him with The Beatles’ famous hit ‘Hey Jude’.
But after a change in position he has failed to rediscover his best form, and this was especially evident in Madrid’s 4-0 defeat to Barcelona last Saturday.
The 21-year-old attempted just 17 passes in El Clasico – his lowest figure since joining Madrid.
He was forced to drop back regularly to help Lucas Vazquez deal with Raphinha, rather than making a decisive contribution in the final third of the pitch.
Ancelotti has defended Bellingham and acknowledged that the midfielder has had to sacrifice parts of his game for the good of the team.
“We are happy with his work because he does a lot on the pitch,” Ancelotti said recently. “He competes a lot, he sacrifices himself… He hasn’t scored the goals he scored last year, but the surprise is not this year, but last year.”
But Bellingham doesn’t have the same impact on matches, and Madrid haven’t been able to reach their top level either.
Bellingham struggled in El Clasico as Barcelona recorded a big win at the Bernabeu
Carlo Ancelotti has defended Bellingham, but it is clear he is no longer Madrid’s main man
They are already six points behind Barcelona in LaLiga and were defeated by Lille in the Champions League last month.
Bellingham’s slump comes after a brilliant 12 months, finishing third in the Ballon d’Or rankings behind Rodri and Vinicius Jr earlier this week.
But the past few days have also shown that he no longer has the same star power he once had in Madrid.
Madrid chose to boycott the Ballon d’Or awards after discovering that Vinicius Jr. would not win the main prize.
A club statement read: ‘If the criteria of the award do not declare Vinicius the winner, the same criteria must declare Carvajal the winner. Since this has not been the case, it is clear that the Ballon d’Or and UEFA do not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid will not go where it is not respected.”
The boycott decision was made in support of Vinicius Jr. and Madrid’s statement even mentioned Dani Carvajal as a potential winner of the award, despite the full-back finishing one position below Bellingham in fourth place.
Real Madrid boycotted the Ballon d’Or awards to show support for runner-up Vinicius Jr
The Spanish giants were furious that Rodri was given the award ahead of Vinicius Jr, but made no mention of sympathy for Bellingham, who finished third in the table.
Madrid’s statement referred to the fact that Dani Carvajal could also have been a worthy winner, but not Bellingham, leaving the Englishman uneasy about remaining in the top three.
Interestingly, there was no mention of Bellingham, who was uncomfortable throughout the episode.
Several Madrid players also posted on social media their support for Vinicius Jr, but Bellingham was not one of them.
He may feel he should have been a bigger part of the conversation this week, instead of Vinicius Jr. had drawn all the attention to itself.
But his dip in form in recent months means Bellingham may remain on the outside looking in for some time to come unless he can find a way to rediscover that magic touch that blossomed at the Bernabeu last season.