Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham has revealed that his very first idols in the game were Seb Larsson, Craig Gardner and Lee Bowyer, midfielders who were essential to Birmingham City‘s last major trophy in 2011. Them, and Zinedine Zidane.
Speaking to L’Equipe after he received the Kopa Award for the best young player in Europe, Bellingham explained his first heroes were local to him.
“I admired the Birmingham players, the team that won the League Cup at Wembley (2-1 against Arsenal in 2011). My heroes were Seb Larsson, Craig Gardner and Lee Bowyer.”
“As I got more into it, dad was the most important. Later, my first models were Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, simply because they played in England. And then when you grow up, you start watching football. My dad had a fake Zidane shirt that he had bought on the beach. He took it everywhere, often at home. One day I asked him: ‘By the way, who is that guy?’ He replied: ‘Go on YouTube and check him out.’ Since then, I probably haven’t stopped.”
“Zidane was the player I wanted to be. I was lucky enough to meet him during the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool (1-0, in 2022). I was like a kid, wide-eyed. It’s so humbling for someone who has achieved so much. He gave off a great presence. And, according to the guys who played with him here, he was a great coach. That is just as important.”
Of course, Bellingham took on Zidane’s old number five shirt at the Santiago Bernabeu requesting it from Jesus Vallejo, who held the number at the time.
“It’s a kind of tribute, of course. But, at the same time, I want to follow my own path and it’s almost like taking it and shaping it my way, making this number what I want it to be: Madrid’s modern number 5.”
Meanwhile back at Birmingham City, nobody can follow in his footsteps and wear the number 22, at least for some time, where his shirt number has been retired.
“They told me ‘no one will wear it until you get back to Birmingham’. I was like (shocked face) ‘Really?’ I had a good year, but it was nothing extraordinary. I looked around me. But wait, are we allowed to do that?¡ But I understand the position and the decision. My transfer saved the club, which was in a difficult [financial] situation.”
Bellingham has spoken openly of his love of Zidane in the past, and certainly there is a temptation to compare the two, as imposing physical players with exquisite technical control. The former is having one pleasure that Zidane never had at the Bernabeu – Carlo Ancelotti has built this Real Madrid side around the Englishman, whereas Zidane was always used off to the left of the midfield, accommodating an array of stars during the Galactico era at the Bernabeu.
