Jude Bellingham (18) has had a rapid one and a half years at Borussia Dortmund. The steep development is peppered with milestones.
Bellingham has impressively shown how a career in the fast lane works at Dortmund: In his first year in the Bundesliga, the English midfield attacker rose directly to become a regular player, won the DFB Cup, played for the senior national team and almost even became a European champion. When he was substituted for Harry Kane after 82 minutes in the 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley on 13 June, Bellingham became the youngest player ever to play in a European Championship. That was 16 days before his 18th birthday.
BVB paid €25 million for the Englishman, who was unknown in Germany at the time and who was supposed to be “an immediate reinforcement for the professional squad”. Not a few doubted that. But they were all proved wrong. “I already know the amount, it was everywhere when I moved to Dortmund last summer, and I can only say that it was remarkable,” said Bellingham in a Sky documentary: “Who would spend so much money on such a young guy, and then also during the COVID pandemic?
“If we lose a game, I’m the worst person “
Dortmund did, anyway, and will not have regretted it for a day to this day. Bellingham, after all, is a prime example of ambition, never content and retaining humility as well as modesty to this day. “If we lose a game, I’m the worst person you can imagine,” says Bellingham, who to date can already boast 44 Bundesliga (three goals), 16 Champions League (two goals) and eight DFB-Pokal games (two goals).
“Jude is fun and can also be a bit silly, he makes me laugh,” says mother Denise Bellingham, who accompanied Jude to Dortmund, about her son. Exemplary for this is the scene at the 4:3 in Leverkusen in mid-September, when Bellingham caught a beer cup thrown out of the fan block after the seventh goal of the day and even took a sip from it. “Perfect day for my first beer … I’m not a fan of it,” Bellingham wrote on social media afterwards.
That Bellingham does not shy away from confrontation, however, is proven at the latest by his TV interview after the debatable 2:3 against Bayern at the beginning of December. He made a Hoyzer reference in the direction of referee Felix Zwayer, who will not be refereeing any more BVB games for the time being.
Bellingham’s father sets 100 league games target
As much as Dortmund don’t regret the transfer fee, Bellingham doesn’t regret his move to Dortmund. “BVB is the best club for me and my development. I would even say: for me, there is no better one in the whole world!” Statements that fans should be happy to hear. Statements that are, of course, also ephemeral in professional football.
Bellingham’s energetic and at the same time always goal-threatening style of play goes down extremely well in Dortmund. But the Englishman won’t be taking off anytime soon, thanks to his parents alone: “In our earlier conversations, my dad always said: You’ll have made it when you have 100 league games to show for it. In that sense, I still haven’t made it.” At the highest level, according to this calculation, he is actually still 56.
Psychologist Laux: “Rarely experienced like this “
But Bellingham also knows how to convince people in Dortmund. “He treats everyone equally with an openness and warmth that I have rarely experienced like this,” says Dortmund’s team psychologist Philipp Laux: “And that is coupled with an incredible focus on his performance, which he brings to the pitch at such a young age. That is simply impressive. “
The time will come on 8 January at 6.30 pm. Then Bellingham wants to get back on the fast track in Frankfurt.