By Perewarri Precious
Following 16 years of Ballon d’or dominance by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, Bellingham deserves the Ballon d’Or as the 2024 ceremony will witness a fresh generation of players into the fearless stratosphere that these two men originated—Jude Bellingham to be one of those.
No one deserves the Ballon d’Or more than he does—not just his season-long excellence but how he has catapulted football out of the ordinary in his first season with Real Madrid.
A Historic Season for Bellingham
At 20 years old, after having moved from Birmingham City to Real Madrid for approximately £100 million, it is almost to be expected he would be under tremendous scrutiny.
At Madrid, Bellingam is playing football with many genius like Vinicious Jnr and his talent is still very well spotted. In La Liga it was in his closeout moments, where he refused to let the line be crossed, or the goals he scored in the Champions league, which proved he was among the most clutch players in football today.
His efforts, on occasions, like his last-minute winner against Getafe (clutch) or the decisive winner in the Champions League group stage which solidified the notion you can never count Real Madrid out of a football match.
Euro 2024 – A Mark on a Fantastic Campaign
However, no season is without flaws and Bellingham’s season can be considered fantastic from all views. He came up short at Euro 2024 as the performances were poor, and only the disappointing run of England provided a blemish in an otherwise stellar season.
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He did score some important goals but his lack of chemistry with his teammates, in particular Phil Foden and Harry Kane, and rumors of disharmony in the locker-room made his credible challenge to the Ballon d’Or much less straightforward.
However, it would be overly harsh just to forget about Bellingham’s season because of this. He remained an important component to Real Madrid’s domestic campaign while scoring in important moments such as in El Clasico and contributing to the winning of La Liga.
Off the pitch, he made a difference too, as his celebrations with the fans became a trending phenomenon within sports stars and pop stars too.There would be no player in that competition for the Ballon d’Or with a perfect season; but could produce consistently in tough moments and the greater impact on the game under the lights deserves the award.
Bellingham’s journey in the game is more than remarkable; but he also deserves the Ballon d’Or for an excellent season performed with all its faults from Euro 2024.
