Jude Bellingham is a global icon for Real Madrid, but his potential was discovered when he left Birmingham teammates “chasing hotdogs” when he was 16 years old.
WHAT OCCURED?
Kristian Pedersen joined the Blues squad after stepping up from the academy ranks to participate in first-team training sessions. Few knew what to expect at the time, with Bellingham an unknown quantity even to those who worked with him at St Andrew’s.
THE LARGER IMAGE
It didn’t take long for the youngster to gain a following, with a move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020 followed by a move to the Santiago Bernabeu for €103 million (£89m/$110m) in the summer of 2023.
HOW THEY SAID IT
Pedersen is not surprised by Bellingham’s impact in Spain, where he has 13 goals in 14 appearances for Real Madrid, as the England international has a habit of making a good first impression. “I don’t know if the rest of us were joking a bit about it, but I was a bit sceptical at first that a 16-year-old was allowed to play for us,” Denmark international Pedersen told Tipsbladet. He needs to prove himself if they think he’s that good, but I was skeptical. But there’s nothing wrong with it as long as he performs well in training. And some of the things he did in the first training session were incredible.
“I recall an exercise in which we did one-on-one drills.” And, by chance, I had to face Jude, who completely sent me chasing hotdogs. He’s just incredibly powerful one-on-one. And he’s intelligent and mature for his age. It took me by surprise. There were some differing viewpoints. There was no doubt that everyone on the team recognized Jude as a top-tier player. However, retiring his number after a season as a 16/17-year-old was a bold move by Birmingham. You can then simply state that it was the correct decision.”
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Many people were surprised when Birmingham retired Bellingham’s No.22 jersey, but he is now a Kopa Trophy winner, the favorite to win the prestigious Golden Boy award in 2023, and a player who many believe will one day follow in the footsteps of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as a multiple Ballon d’Or winner.
