Jude Bellingham wasn’t signed by Real Madrid to score goals but the midfielder has started his career at the club in exactly the same prolific manner as Cristiano Ronaldo did 14 years ago.
Madrid paid an initial €103m (£88m) to make Bellingham the second most expensive signing in their history behind only Eden Hazard – add-ons could eventually see the rise to €134m (£115m). But they are certainly getting their money’s worth so far.
Without the injured Vinicius Junior, Carlo Ancelotti’s side needed somebody to step up against Getafe on Saturday night and that person was Bellingham.
The 20-year-old has thrived in the ‘number 10’ role that has been assigned to him this season, making the most of the more advanced position on the pitch to get into the box. When Madrid looked to be losing their 100% start to the season, having fought back to 1-1 against Getafe at the Bernabeu after initially going 1-0 down, Bellingham came up big at the end.
His 95th minute winner put Madrid, already the only team to have a 100% winning start after three games, five points clear of the rest of the competition at this early stage. Regardless of what Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or Girona do on Sunday, they will stay at least two points clear.
For Bellingham, it was already a fifth La Liga goal in only his fourth appearance in the competition. He found the net on his debut against Athletic Club last month, before a brace against Almeria. A further strike in the narrow 1-0 win at Celta Vigo then preceded Saturday’s winner over Getafe. With Madrid starting the season on the road due to final renovations at the Bernabeu, it was also his home debut.
With no real replacement for Karim Benzema, Madrid have needed a goalscorer and have found one from an unlikely source – already, Bellingham is only three goals shy of matching his best ever goal tally in a single league season, which he managed with Borussia Dortmund in 2022/23.
Five goals in his first four La Liga also matches Cristiano Ronaldo’s record when he first joined the club in 2009. Back then, Ronaldo hit goals against Deportivo La Coruna, Espanyol, Xerez (2) and Villarreal in four consecutive wins for Manuel Pellegrini’s team to kick off his first season.
“I’m not surprised by Bellingham’s quality,” Ancelotti said after the Getafe game.
“What surprises me is that he has scored so many goals in the first few games. It’s quite surprising for everybody and for him. He’s a professional and he’s very serious. The professionalism of the squad is at a high level and he has the example there. He’s adapted very well and has gone on holiday with the rest of the young players. I think it’s all good.
“He can get to 15 goals because he did it with Dortmund [in all competitions]. He excels without the ball and doesn’t give it away. He often gets into the box and breaks lines. He’s in almost constant attacking movement and that’s why he has scored all those goals.”
“Bellingham is a quick learner and I don’t have to explain things to him several times. He has a very quick learning ability. We have shown him videos of when he played for Dortmund, what we liked and what we wanted him to continue doing. What has changed is that he makes a lot more movements without the ball in the opponent’s area.”
