“Na, na, na-na-na-naa, na-na-na-naa, hey, Jude!”
Fans at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu sing this ever since the arrival of Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid.
From Birmingham to Dortmund, and now Madrid, Jude Bellingham has been putting up performances for his new club that millions have only dreamt of, only at the age of 20.
During the transfer window in the summer of 2023, Real Madrid came out on top of the bidding war against other clubs for the English Midfielder. On June 14, Real Madrid officially announced that they had signed Bellingham from the club Borussia Dortmund of Germany’s Bundesliga for a transfer fee of €103 million ($111.29 million).
“Real Madrid is a good place for him (Bellingham) because there’s a lot of youngsters that he can relate to but also a lot of veteran players like (Luka) Modrić and (Toni) Kroos,” said Real Madrid fan Augusto Noguera ’26.
The Spanish La Liga season kicked off on Aug. 11, and as of Dec. 1, Bellingham has scored 11 goals and assisted 2 in 12 games.
“I didn’t think that he would have the impact he’s having right now at the club,” said Noguera.
Along with this, he has also put up top performances in the UEFA Champions League. This is a competition held by the Union of European Football Associations that has the top clubs of Europe’s top domestic leagues play each other to determine the best club in Europe. As of Dec. 1, he has scored 4 goals and assisted 2 in 4 games. In Jude’s 15th appearance for Real Madrid, he broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s record at Real Madrid of 13 goals in 15 games by scoring his 14th goal.
During the same summer of Jude Bellingham’s arrival, it was the departure of Real Madrid’s striker, Karim Benzema, who joined Al-Ittiad in the Saudi Pro League. Benzema had spent 14 seasons at Real Madrid and was their number-one scorer during the 2022-23 season with 19 goals in all competitions. With the amount of goal contributions that Jude Bellingham has produced as a midfielder it raises one question: Does Real Madrid still need a new striker?
Several fans and analysts argue that Bellingham can take up the striker role, while others believe otherwise.
“Benzema is a great player and I don’t think Jude Bellingham is playing the role Benzema played. Yes, he’s scoring goals but he’s a midfielder, that’s not his only mission, his role is to defend and attack. I think Real Madrid will need a striker in the future, either (Kylian) Mbappé or (Erling) Haaland,” said Noguera.
Mbappé and Haaland are two prolific strikers who can take up the role, which Real Madrid has targeted and has the money for, but right now, Bellingham is scoring at a rate that does not necessitate the need for either of them.
