Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham has been showered in praise since arriving in Spain, with rave reviews about his quality and a general admiration for the maturity he has shown.
However most recently he was praised for a much odder quality – not being that English. According to Relevo, those at Real Madrid are mightily impressed with how little Bellingham seems like his compatriots during the early days of his Real Madrid career.
They list Laurie Cunningham, Steve McManaman, David Beckham, Jonathan Woogate and Michael Owen as the previous examples of Englishman that have joined Los Blancos, while also including Gareth Bale in their comparison as evidence of the ‘British’ character.
They list only Beckham and McManaman as successes, at least on the pitch, although this seems harsh as Beckham still speaks Spanish and commercially was a major boon for Real Madrid.
Bellingham has left little doubt in terms of his own performances in training and in their first preseason friendly, but where he has really impressed those at the club is his adventurous character, his personality and his willingness to learn Spanish. They note his close friendship with Brahim Diaz, who speaks English, but that he is making a big effort to improve his communication.
They compare that with previous examples of ‘cold’ personalities and a lack of effort to integrate. In particular they point to the fact that Bale did not give an interview in Spanish in the nine years he was at the club.
No doubt Bellingham has shown a thirst to try new experiences which is not common for those within English football, but he also has the advantage of having moved countries once, and will be aware of how to handle all of the nuances that come with that.
Equally, observers could point to the likes of Gary Lineker as another success story at Barcelona, and Scottish striker Steve Archibald still lives in Barcelona to this day having played well for the Blaugrana as a number 9 in the 1980s. Woodgate was also used as an example of how to adapt well to Spanish life by ESPN recently, as someone who learnt the language, attended social events, and even visited small villages around Madrid. His spell was unsuccessful primarily due to injuries.
