Jude Bellingham: How Real Madrid star rejected sensational Man City offer and shone at 15
Robin Bairner
- Updated: 30 Sept 2023 10:24 BST
- 4 min read
Real Madrid superstar Jude Bellingham has quickly established himself as one of the best players in the world at the age of just 20, but the England international has long been destined for the top.
Since completing a €103 million transfer to Los Blancos from Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer, he has exploded at the Bernabeu, scoring a series of clutch goals as he has replaced Karim Benzema as the superstar in Carlo Ancelotti’s Real Madrid team.
He is now the third most valuable player in the world, behind only Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, and as early as 15, he was a player destined for the top.
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This was recognised by Manchester City, who made a sensational offer to him at that time, as well as Birmingham City's Greg Stewart, who was impressed with what he saw.
Speaking to the Scots Abroad podcast, Stewart explained that his first experience of Bellingham came when his days at the club were coming to an end.
“I was training with the youth team. Jude Bellingham was training with us. He was 15 years old and you could see what a player he was,” he said.
“He would train with us and he wouldn’t change, he wouldn’t be scared. He wouldn’t be like: ‘I need to watch what I’m doing.’ He put himself about and technically, he was brilliant. The way he could take the ball and turn. He was skinny but he was tall and had dangly legs.”
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Greg Stewart on @BellinghamJude
Bellingham has ripped up @Bundesliga_EN with @BVB & is in fine form currently with @EnglandFootball & @realmadriden
But whilst at @BCFC, Greg Stewart trained with a 15yo Bellingham & here's what he had to say about those first few sessions 👇 pic.twitter.com/eI91cvrZjl— ScotsAbroadPod (@ScotsAbroadPod) September 30, 2023
Man City’s sensational Bellingham bid
Even at that point, Man City were after the player.
Stewart said: “I’d talk to youth team coaches and they’d say: ‘Yeah, Manchester City have offering his players £2 million plus a mansion but he’s not interested.’
“He was a mad Birmingham fan. He didn’t want to leave. I think he played one year in the first team and he got his move to Dortmund when every team wanted him. And look at him now. You could see he was just different.”
The striker, who played one full season at Birmingham and is now with Mumbai City in the Indian Super League, explained that the self-confidence of the teenager has been key to his success.
“He was having himself then, in a good way. It’s just the way he trained and it was the way he was, and that’s why he is where he is now,” he said. “His attitude was that he didn’t care who he was playing against. It didn’t matter if you were a senior player or not. Young players coming up might be scared to make a mistake, but he wasn’t and he had the ability, you could see it right away.”
