Becoming the most hated in the world, Jude Bellingham was only ringing bells with no intended harm. The boy from Birmingham City has won hearts on his way to becoming a superstar. They want to take that away from him.
Jude Bellingham : The most hated player in the world
Jude Bellingham has in the last 12 months evolve into one of the best players in the world but the conquest that is supposed to make him more loveable has turned him into the most hated player in the world.
Following his big money move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2023, a heavy weight was placed on his shoulders at just 19, even so as things did not go down well the last time Los Blancos spent so much to acquire just one player.
Still remember Eden Hazard ? The Belgian who arrived in the Spanish capital on the back of a stellar season with Chelsea in 2018-19, but he could not justify himself in all the years spent with the European giants, before finally calling time on his career five years later.
Bellingham, though had different responsibilities as he is a midfielder. The presence of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric raised many eyebrows as questions were asked if a £100 million player will be sat on the bench.
Fans and pundits thought the club had different priorities in the window. However, after 12 months of a teenager now turned a man, it is crystal clear that the club could not have made a better decision, and that Florentino Perez had delivered another one of his masterclass.
Jude Bellingham : A star who created his own stardomVoted the Bundesliga player of the season despite his Dortmund side losing the title on the final day of the 2022-23 season while he was out injured, Bellingham would sign a long-term contract with Carlo Ancelotti‘s Madrid in the summer.
While there was no major collective achievement for Jude Bellingham during his days with Dortmund, there was no denying he made significant impact for the club, whilst he also arrived in Germany as a star, who had left behind a great reputation for himself at his boyhood club, Birmingham.
Earned a legendary status upon Birmingham departure
Jude Bellingham left Birmingham City a fortune when he signed for Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2020. It is understood that Birmingham received a guaranteed £25m up front payment from Dortmund, with fees worth ‘several millions more’ potentially added on depending on appearances, achievements and milestones.
It is without a doubt that those millions of pounds will be in bank for the Saint Andrews landlord now, due to the immense contribution of Bellingham while in Germany, and his £100 million move to Madrid last summer.
Birmingham City deemed Bellingham worthy of having the shirt number 22 officially retired for the contribution he made to their club; despite only playing one professional season. It is a rare achievement and only few who have been afforded such honor in the game have played for years in those clubs.
These gestures and many others made him a loveable human, one hailed for his cultured ways and humility, despite the talent he has.qDefiled the odds to shine in Dortmund
There was a narrative that English players do not thrive abroad. Maybe Jadon Sancho did put that to shame, but Jude Bellingham is doing more to have such notion far removed from ears.
The likes of David Beckham, Michael Owen and a few others who moved outside England in the past did not do well. They failed to live up to what they had done at home before leaving the United Kingdom.
Bellingham stayed three seasons with Borussia Dortmund and played 42 or more club games in each of those seasons. Yet, the black and yellow wall will have a difficult time remembering a bad game he had in their colours.
He arrived in Dortmund few weeks after his 17th birthday and would go on to captain the club, win the DFB Pokal and lead their charge for the league title, in which they fell short following his season ending injury.
He was included in England’s squad for the 2020 UEFA European Championship played in 2021 as an 18-year-old, meaning he has a silver medal to his name after the Three Lions lost to Italy in the final.
He scooped both Bundesliga and VDV Bundesliga Player of the Season awards at the end of the 2022-23 campaign.
Bellingham also successfully defend his IFFHS Men’s World’s Best Youth Player crown, becoming the only player to win the award twice.
A lot of other individual awards followed and even though he narrowly lost the 2022 Golden Boy award to Pablo Gavi, a host of fans and pundits felt he deserved the award ahead of the Barcelona youngester.
The name Jude Bellingham was one that commanded love, and he reciprocated with impressive performances, but not as good as he has become since joining Real Madrid. But why the sudden change of affection ?
Most hated player in the world
How it began…
One hundred million pounds is a lot of money for a teenager, who is coming into a club with the best crop of midfielders around. Pundits and fans alike would have thought that he’ll serve as an understudy to the iconic names already on the list.
With Toni Kroos and Luka Modric still around, it looked as though there was no way Jude Bellingham will be afforded enough minutes in his first season.
Fans expected a big name attacker to arrive in the summer of 2023 but the decision of Kylian Mbappé to continue with PSG Paris Saint-German left them in limbo, and at the time, a will-be surplus to requirement teenager is not enough a consolation, their thought.
They had just witnessed the departure of their star striker in Karim Benzema, bringing an end to what was left of their iconic BBC front three dynasty. Do they now depend on a teenager on those iconic European nights ?
Bellingham also arrived to a hostile country in Spain having been beaten to the Golden Boy award in back-to-back seasons by Pedri and Gavi, the comparison with the Spanish boys from Barcelona was the first reason fans in Spain, except Madridstas, do not really fancy him.
Joselu Mato was an uncharacteristic signing for the club. It was obvious that the striker will not start many games, but it wasn’t really clear the notion how a £100 million teenage midfielder will fit in.
While there was no denying that Jude Bellingham is talented, it does not feel right that there was no big name striker signing, which infuriated fans, thinking it was as a result of the club overspending on him.
Then it began. Bellingham had a start to the season, better than anyone ever recalled in their debut season in Spain, or maybe in football history.
‘But he was a midfielder. He surely can’t continue to score so many goals for much longer.’ They thought. However, Jude Bellingham never stopped. He continues to make significant contributions.
In a few weeks into the season, he already put to shame the comparison with the aforementioned Barcelona duo and claimed the Golden Boy award, Kopa award and multiple other individual awards. Scored a brace to help Madrid comeback and beat Barcelona 2-1 in Camp Nou. Then, the hates started to set in.
They came up with the narrative that the awards were secured for him by Florentino Perez when it was obvious that he clearly deserved them. They even resorted to compare him with several other players, just to put him down.
But where did he go wrong ?
Is it really all about Jude Bellingham or the jealousy and hate for Real Madrid
As Bellingham’s stock continues to rise, so does the critics. He is not allowed to put a foot wrong, and even when he has a good game, they claimed it is the ‘PR’. But when he has a bad one, which he rarely does, they’ll say that’s the player he is.
He won two Laliga player of the month awards between August and October for his outstanding performances. His starting to outshine everyone statistically drew a lot of attention, to the good of Real Madrid fans, but for a club not so loved in Spain, oppositions started to force the hate agenda.
He scores goals, they’ll say it is only a cover for his bad game and when he doesn’t score them, they bring out something just to continue to ridicule him, even though he has had a good game.
After a first season with Real Madrid, where he won the LaLiga player of the season, and UEFA Champions League young player of the season, his Ballon D’or shouts is being downplayed by the critics, who think he is not that good…
Jude Bellingham was Real Madrid’s top scorer on their way to winning the Laliga title. Also in the UEFA Champions league, he had an assist in the 2-0 win over Dortmund in the final to his four goals in the competition.
In the Clasico games against Barcelona, he scored three times in two league games, to help Los Blancos come from behind and win in those games. Bellingham also registered an assist in the 4-1 win over their bitter rivals in the final of the Spanish Super Cup played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He finished his club season with three trophies, 23 goals and 13 assists in four games, while doing more than average on other statistics, whether as a midfielder or as a striker.
At just 20, it was an unbelievable season but these developments have only brought him more haters. The hates, fortunately couldn’t really get to him at Real Madrid because Los Blancos only lost twice with Bellingham.
However, the summer has come and it is becoming a different story. It has started to get to him with the England national team.
Getting exposed with the pride of Lions
England’s Three Lions’ unimpressive performances in the ongoing UEFA European Championship has opened the door for the critics to have a go at the midfielder, who turned 21 last month.
Despite being at the heart of everything good for his country, it is never enough, not only because the overall performance of the team was poor but also to finally get to put down the brilliance of the Real Madrid man.
Jude Bellingham scored the only goal that helped England to their only victory in Group C of the EURO 2024, while in their last game, he scored a last minute overhead kick equalizer, which keeps Gareth Southgate’s team in the competition as a Harry Kane header in extra time helped completed the comeback.
His goal against Slovakia also means that at only 21, Jude Bellingham now has more England goal in major tournaments than Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes and David Beckham combined.
His ‘inappropriate’ gesture, made in the direction of Slovakia fans will be deemed as a result of the frustration. Albeit the former Birmingham City teenager had cleared the air that it was a mere inside joke aimed at his friends in the stands, UEFA has started an investigation into the incident.
And to be fair, it wasn’t the first time Bellingham had made such gesture. He also did April, when he scored an injury time goal in a 3-2 comeback win over Barcelona in the Bernabéu.
With England into the last eight of the UEFA European Championship, where they face Switzerland, the chances of Bellingham in the Ballon d’Or race continues to grow bigger.
Although he may not win it, it is expected to be a very close call between the 21-year-old and his teammate at club level, Vinicius Júnior.
Nonetheless hate is not expected to stop soon. It has become a deja vu, as the same was the fate of Cristiano Ronaldo during the Portuguese’ time with the 15-time UEFA Champions League winners. It is one of the difficult realities behind being a superstar. It doesn’t get any worse when you are a Real Madrid player.
But for someone like Jude Bellingham, who had received nothing but love before his move to Real Madrid, when every impact he made was hailed for his brilliance, this is something he is not used to.
Before Real Madrid, he was seen as a talented, versatile and energetic midfielder, who is a top professional despite his young age. Many at times, he was also praised for his well-mannered and cultured personality.
Unfortunately, today, the reverse of these are the case, even though he has become a much better player, they invest efforts to taint him negatively. He is seen as an arrogant player who only feed off Real Madrid influence, PR and tap-ins to as camouflage for his disastrous performances.
A good question to ask his critics is why wouldn’t Jude Bellingham get all the PR of this world ?
12 months after claiming the Bundesliga player of the season at only 19, even though neither did his team win the league title nor did he toppled the scoring or assist charts. He was just playing his football and dominating play, Jude Bellingham has added other features to his game, and those are what makes a great player.
He was not signed for the goals or the assists by Madrid, because those were never his strengths prior to arriving in the Spanish capital. For Real Madrid to fork out such amount for a central midfielder, it says everything you need to know about the 19-year-old at the time.
And in his short time with Madrid he has had a host of iconic moments, such as scoring late late winners against Barcelona (twice), Getafe, Union Berlin, and Celta Vigo. His sensational solo goal against Napoli in the UEFA Champions League and his maiden Real Madrid goal on debut, in opening weekend of Laliga season against Athletic Club are moments that call for attention.
His late equalizers for England in a 2-2 international friendly draw with Belgium in March and his latest one against Slovakia in the UEFA European Championship are golden moments that even the least players will get the media attention for if lucky to be in those shoes for just once.
Moments like that draw attention of the media. Why did Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi become so popular ? One may ask but surely the recipient of such question knows the right answer.
Nevertheless, Jude Bellingham will have to understand that these are but the price of greatness, and has to learn to live with it if he wants to continue to be one.
At 21, he has shown extraordinary maturity, leadership and professionalism. These he should continue to do and will be able to put his critics to shame every now and then, because as a great player, you’ll always have the haters.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did and still do despite the careers they’ve had. Neymar do, and it reached the apex when he left Barcelona in the summer of 2017. It only started to cool when he was joined by Lionel Messi in Paris, four years later.
As long as Bellingham does not stop, the critics will continue, and knowing they will even get worse if he stops, then the more reason he should take them inspiration to get better.
“I don’t mind people hating me because it pushes me. You have to see the good things from the haters. I need an enemy. It is part of my business. It is not a problem for me. It is a motivation.” – words of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015 during an interview with the Spanish newspaper El País.
Great players decipher a mechanism to deal with critics, and the most effective one is never succumbing to them but turning the hates into motivation.
Maybe they want you to do more. Maybe they don’t want you to stop. And it could be that they do not think you deserve being you. As much as you have nothing to prove to anyone, continue being you will be enough.
Bellingham’s teammates Bukayo Saka and Vinicius Júnior are also constant names targeted by the critics, while the emerging star Lamine Yamal is also being added to the list.
Criticism is a pest that threatens to infect great players, which is why talent is not always enough. Great players also need to be mentally fit to defeat situations that doesn’t present themselves like beating a defender one-on-one.
Ask any great player and each will have their own story. It is Jude Bellingham’s time to become the most hated player in the world, but he can take solace from the fact that it is actually for a good reason.
Now he has to understand that it has become his responsibility, to keep the hate coming.
