Jude Bellingham scored a brace in Real Madrid’s 4-0 win over Girona, giving them a five point advantage at the top of the LaLiga table. The midfielder has now scored 16 LaLiga goals, and is leading the race for the Golden Boot. Across all competitions, he has scored 20 and now finds himself in elite company alongside some of the club’s most revered legends.
Ronaldo Nazario, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Gareth Bale each went on to score more than 15 goals in their debut season. And with his brace, Bellingham has already matched that feat with 14 games still left to play.
Jude Bellingham joins elite company with 16th LaLiga goal of the season
A lot of questions were asked of Real Madrid’s attack at the start of the season when Karim Benzema left the club. Although the club signed Joselu, he was not expected to be the first-choice striker for the season.
And to all our amazement, Carlo Ancelotti deployed Jude Bellingham as a poacher, arriving in the box late and using his striker’s instinct to score. The 20-year-old has become one of the most prolific players in the world right now, and few can argue with the quality that he brings to the table.
The track record for €100 million+ transfers has not been the best in recent memory. The likes of Eden Hazard, Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho, Joao Felix and Ousmane Dembele all failed to live up to their full potential after the huge money spent on them by Spanish clubs.
Bellingham, perhaps, is the only exception that comes to mind considering how effective he has been. An ankle injury will keep him out of the squad for the coming weeks, but he is expected to be back in time for Real Madrid’s Champions League Round of 16 clash against RB Leipzig.