Jude Bellingham is officially a Real Madrid player. The 19-year-old English midfielder, recently nominated as the best footballer in the Bundesliga and a key member of the England team, has formally joined Madrid, on a six year contract, thus becoming the first major signing of the season.
It is understood that the Spanish giants will pay 103m euros (£88.5m) for the former Birmingham City and Dortmund youngster, in addition to various potential add-ons.
If those add-ons are achieved, the deal could reach 133.9m euros (£115m).
The presentation ceremony for Bellingham as a new Real Madrid player will take place on Thursday, June 15, at 12:00 noon at Real Madrid City, the Real Madrid training ground, after which he will appear before the media.
Members from several supporters associations have been invited to attend the 19-year-old’s unveiling, which will take place after he has had a medical at Hospital Universitario Sanitas La Moraleja in the north of the city.
As Jude’s agent, Mark Bellingham has played a crucial role as the 19-year-old finally completed his move to Real Madrid.
Indeed, Mark was the figure who inspired his son to become a footballer, and who now watches over the development of the England star’s career, which has now taken him to Spain and Real Madrid. Indeed Mark himself was a former player, a legend of the English non-league game.
“I used to watch him play all the time; it’s where I started to get that love for football,” Jude said in an interview with the Guardian in 2020. “I think you can see in the way I play that I’ve watched the game from a young age. That non-league style of toughness and being gritty when you need to be is reflected in my game, and I do think that comes from watching my dad play – even though he never tackled!”
Mark, now 46, earned a reputation as a voracious goalscorer in the lower leagues. His career began in 1994, nine years before Jude’s birth. His day job – he’s a police sergeant – hindered his progress as a player and he never made it beyond non-league level, but his haul of over 700 career goals make him one of the highest scorers in the history of non-professional football in England. In one season, 2005/06, he racked up 61 goals.
Mark’s passion for the game rubbed off not only on Jude, but also his other son, 17-year-old Jobe, who has followed in his older brother’s footsteps by emerging from the youth ranks at Birmingham City. Jobe made his senior debut for the Blues in January 2022.
