Inside Jude Bellingham’s life in Madrid and the inner circle of England’s brightest star

It is the evening of Oct 4, 2019. Birmingham City are at home to Middlesbrough in the Championship and a host of leading scouts are in attendance. That is not unusual at St Andrews at that time. They have all been there. All the big clubs. Every one. And for one reason.

Odin Bailey scores a last-minute header in a dramatic 2-1 win for the home side but the scouts are watching his friend and another teenager: Jude Bellingham.

Among them is a representative from the ambitious French club Bordeaux, then in Ligue 1, and his report on Bellingham proves to be hugely prophetic.

“It was incredible to see this level of personality for a player who is only 16 years old,” it reads. “He plays with maturity that stretches beyond his years and I strongly believe if you attended this match without any previous knowledge Jude would have been identified as one of the most experienced players on the pitch.”

The report continues: “Jude has the potential to play at the highest level…Jude should look to make the step where he is going to play, and continue to develop, rather than being lost within a big club’s system.

“I feel he could be difficult to acquire if we do not move quickly but we still need to show some ambition, especially when considering the initial transfer fee with the potential re-sale value.”

But Bordeaux had no chance of signing Bellingham. Even then – in what was only his eighth first-team game – it was too late.

“He is a progressive thinking midfielder,” the scout added. “He demands of himself very high standards. This was evident in the second-half of this match where he attempted a key pass and he was frustrated that it did not come off as he intended.”

As perceptive as the report is – grading Bellingham as an ‘A’ and urging the club to make an immediate offer – it was pretty much what everyone was saying about the midfielder who always appeared mature way beyond his years.

Chelsea, who also missed out, had, according to their former scout Yousuf Sajjad, compiled 62 reports on him from 25 different scouts from the age of 12 to 16.

“The oldest 19-year-old I have ever met,” the former coach of Borussia Dortmund, who did eventually gain his signature, Edin Terzic, told Telegraph Sport. “He’s outstanding on and off the pitch…He will be one of the best players in the world for a decade.”

And, so, this is the story of how Jude Victor William Bellingham – “Just a boy from Birmingham” as he styles himself – rose to world super-stardom. And that is no exaggeration. Telegraph Sport has spoken to some of those who have been part of his journey from Birmingham to Dortmund and onto being a £115 million player – he is already easily worth at least twice that amount – at Real Madrid and one who England hope will lead them to glory at the European Championship.

Doing Premier League things in the Championship

It was Pep Clotet who gave Bellingham his debut at Birmingham City. The Spaniard may have lasted little over a year as head coach but he undoubtedly played his part. And he recalls a crucial meeting he had with the first-team squad about bringing “a child” into the team.

“Maybe in the beginning some players thought it was a bit rushed,” Clotet concedes. “I remember a couple of meetings with senior lads to tell them ‘listen, help us on this one because you are part of it and you can teach him how to be a good professional. It’s going to be good for us all’.

“Now they feel that pride of ‘we did something together’. Maybe it even feels more than winning something because we managed to see the breakthrough of a really good player. Everyone put a grain of salt on it.”

In particular, Clotet recalls the role played by Lee Camp, the former goalkeeper, who was then Birmingham’s most senior player. “Lee understood from the beginning,” he says. “He had something special with Jude and it was only a matter of giving him that experience and that little guidance. They were very good with him in the locker room.”

Bellingham’s debut, aged 16 years and 38 days, came against Portsmouth. He broke an almost five-decade-old record set by Trevor Francis in 1970. The former striker, who passed away in July 2023, was someone Bellingham was hugely respectful of and Francis was touched by that. Especially given the age gap.

“It felt like he had been waiting for that day for many years,” Clotet says of Bellingham’s debut. “It was very natural for him.” The coach saw that in the first training session. “We were doing a small-sided game and he was trying things that we don’t see normally in the Championship, things you see in the Premier League,” he says.

Clotet decided to find out more about Bellingham who had joined Birmingham, the club he and his family avidly support, as a seven-year-old from Stourbridge Juniors, the team run by his father, Mark, himself a more than useful non-league striker and a former policeman.

“I knew him but I did not know him well enough,” Clotet explains of Jude. “So, I thought in my mind that I would have to have a few talks with him, to make sure he does not put too much pressure on himself, that it was normal to make mistakes at his age. I thought there would be a bigger gap between him and the rest and that he could lose a bit of confidence.

“Well, it was the contrary. I never had to have that talk. The gap was not there. Even when something was not working for him he was very critical and knew exactly why and sorted it for next time. He was never a player who lived off his emotions. He never lost confidence.” Clotet is honest enough to admit that by as early as the January transfer window and with speculation growing over Bellingham’s future, and with every club circling, he did not know whether he could manage such an extraordinary talent.

“I was a little bit worried, as there were a lot of rumours,” he says. “I remember he got attention from big clubs in the Premier League and in my mind we were the big club. We were Birmingham and we were all together in this and, so, I never wanted to lose him.

“And then I had a meeting with him and he said ‘I will do all these meetings (with other clubs) but I will stick with you until the end of the season’.

“Then I had a lot of fears as well on behalf of the team. Was he going to change? Will it change his mentality because he gets all this attention and all this media? It was almost every day. But my fears were unfounded.

“His greatest strength is his mentality. He has a champion’s mentality. There are very, very few players like that. A player who always thinks it will work out well; we are going to win.

“If I had to dig a little bit deeper I would say he is very complete. Right now we are living in a football-era based on speciality.

“For example: ‘I am a specialist in playing a role behind the striker’, OK, or ‘a defensive player’ or a ‘goal-scorer’. Everyone has to have one good talent. Jude has them all. Jude can assist, Jude can play in the pocket, Jude can play in space, he can defend, attack, make deep runs, is good in the air, scores goals. He can play any position in the midfield.

“For England he has played a No 6, in the centre, he played with us and with Real Madrid as a false winger with a lot of freedom, who can attack from deep lines. An eight. He plays as a 10. He is a very complete midfielder and this is not something you find in the world right now.

“That makes him very, very special. He is a true midfielder. England has always had a history of very complete, rounded midfielders and Jude is the next one.”

Clotet has stayed in touch. “My little one (son) makes his collection of cards, like baseball cards, and he is desperate to get Jude’s,” he says. “We will go to Madrid for him to sign it.”

Retiring the shirt was a bit dramatic – but no one is laughing now

It was at the Cheltenham Festival in March 2020 that the Birmingham players really knew something was up with Bellingham. That meeting became infamous as a Covid ‘super-spreader’ event but the first-team squad were not to know that as they gathered for the first day’s racing with Bellingham joining them late. He had good reason.

“He told one or two of us what happened,” says Lee Camp, with Bellingham having revealed he had met with Manchester United that morning: with the manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Sir Alex Ferguson – and also with Eric Cantona and Bryan Robson.

“They rolled out all the big guns,” Camp recalls. “Having the maturity to then choose Dortmund, knowing how they had developed players, just showed how aware of his own development he was.

“He had turned down Manchester United and that was a big thing to do but he knew where he needed to be. You could see with that choice that he would develop and he would go onto something after that.”

Camp took a keen interest in Bellingham. He was Birmingham’s first-choice goalkeeper, is now retired and coaching the Under-18s at Accrington and recalls “rumblings” at Birmingham that an exceptional talent was about to break through.

“I remember speaking to Kevin Thelwell when he was director of football at Wolves and he said ‘we’d take him in a heartbeat but he can’t get near him’,” Camp says. “He said all the top European clubs were lining up and he had the pick of where he wanted to go. Even before he got into the first-team he could have left and had options.”

In 2019, Bellingham went on pre-season tour to Portugal with the first-team along with Bailey who went to the same club-recommended secondary school and who made his first-team debut at the same time. Bailey now plays for Stockport County and has remained a friend and recently visited Bellingham in Madrid. Bellingham covered his flights and hotel.

Both became involved in the Birmingham squad for home games, taking part in the warm-ups, getting used to the environment. “When he [Bellingham] trained with us it looked like he’d been around 10 years,” Camp says. “Coming in pre-season, going on tour, being involved he just took it in his stride…in fairness it was a good changing room at Birmingham – myself, David Stockdale, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Harlee Dean, Marc Roberts, Gary Gardner. Good professionals, good guys. He’s a likeable lad so it wasn’t hard for him to blend in.

“And when he trained you could tell. Just the way he took the ball. The way he dominated. The skill. There was something different about him. You didn’t have to tell him too much; he kind of already knew. He got it. Any mistake or wrong step he fixed almost immediately. He had that natural football brain.”

Camp cites one moment, above all, when he could tell Bellingham was special. It was in a remarkable 5-4 defeat at St Andrews by Leeds United on Dec 29, 2019. “I was sub and it was the goal he scored,” Camp says. “His touch, his finish, his composure. That just epitomised it. Obviously, he had that drive to go past people and when he was on the ball. But the composure in that goal at such a young age – off balance, then the touch and still being able to stroke it into the bottom corner. That is a level above.

“Leeds wouldn’t even have thought he had a chance there. Any other player might have snatched at it but he made it look really easy. So you are thinking ‘mmm, there’s something a bit different about that. You don’t see that every day’. It doesn’t look like much of a goal but if you break it down there are not many players who could have done that.”

Like many others, and this is a familiar theme, Camp has remained in contact with Bellingham. “I bumped into him at a Birmingham game a year last Christmas. Just after the World Cup and he was on his break,” he says. “(Bellingham’s younger brother) Jobe was playing for Birmingham and I saw Jude at the top of the stairs. It was great to see him and we exchange the occasional WhatsApps.

“He’s as good as gold. He is costing me a fortune in Real Madrid kits and England kits for my lad! He left him a Birmingham shirt. My lad used to come into training during the school holidays and Jude was great with him. He is now 13 and Jude’s his man. Jude’s personality is wonderful.”

When Bellingham left Birmingham, with a deal for £30.4 million agreed with Dortmund, the highest ever paid in Europe for a 17-year-old, the club retired his No 22 shirt. Why 22? It was because Mike Dodds, then Birmingham’s head of academy, had said he could play as a No 10, a No 8 or a No 4 = 22, of course. Bellingham embraced the idea.

“The club have decided it would be fitting to retire this number, to remember one of our own and to inspire others,” Birmingham said in a solemn statement. At the time of the announcement – retiring shirts is usually associated with Bobby Moore’s No 6 at West Ham or Ajax’s 14 for Johan Cruyff – was met with derision. “No, I laughed as well! I thought it was a bit dramatic,” Camp says chuckling. “But no-one is laughing now.”

High emotional intelligence and a natural leader

Bellingham’s last game for Birmingham against Derby County on July 22, 2020 was behind-closed-doors because of Covid and he spent more than an hour afterwards on the St Andrews pitch, sobbing. His choice had already been made: he was not just leaving the club he loved – and still loves – but he was leaving England. He was joining Borussia Dortmund.

But he and his family played fair with Birmingham. Bellingham was on a schoolboy contract and could, in theory, have joined any club with the fee being decided by a tribunal. It would have been far lower than the initial £25 million that Dortmund had to pay – and the Bellinghams would have made far more money – but Birmingham had a professional contract ready and they agreed he would sign that first.

“Recognising Jude Bellingham’s extraordinary talent was really not that difficult. He understands the game, he is greedy for success, he is a great personality despite his young age,” Dortmund’s sporting director Sebastian Kehl tells Telegraph Sport.

Still the German club had to see off daunting competition – led by United. But Dortmund had a very clear edge. They were willing to offer guarantees the other clubs were not prepared to do and had a purpose.

“One of our great strengths is that we can identify Europe’s top talents very early on and show them a clear perspective. Haaland, Bellingham, Sancho,” Kehl says, with Dortmund arranging for four cars to meet him at the airport after his private jet from Birmingham landed. The cars all drove off in different directions to confuse the expectant German media.

“The players’ perspective with us can be seen in the team line-ups. We don’t have to tell or promise the boys so much. We can show them: You will be part of our starting XI. And not only in the national cup in the first round against a fourth-division team, but in the Champions League against Manchester City or Real Madrid,” Kehl adds.

“To be honest, that means these talents find us exciting. In addition to the prospect of being able to play football every 14 days in front of 81,365 spectators and the legendary Yellow Wall.”

Even though he was just 17 Bellingham was not fazed about moving to Germany where he was largely joined by his mother Denise. He first played for England at under-15s, a year up alongside Jamal Musiala and the pair became room-mates and firm friends.

Bellingham watched with interest as Musiala joined Bayern Munich from Chelsea and broke into the first-team early.

At Dortmund they talk about Bellingham being a phenomenon. A freak. A preternatural competitor. In his debut in the DFB-Pokal cup tie against Duisburg, Bellingham became the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer. A month later he became the youngest Englishman to play in the Champions League.

“He was not perceived in our dressing room as a very young player, but as an important player, as a champion. That’s why I’m not surprised by the path he took at Real Madrid,” Kehl explains.

First there was even more of a trail to blaze at Dortmund where Terzic took over as coach, from Marco Rose, and quickly identified the leadership qualities of Bellingham – who had forged a friendship with Gio Reyna – and made him his ‘third’ captain after experienced, legendary Germany players Marco Reus and Mats Hummels.

It was some accolade and one Bellingham embraced, although an interesting theme developed as it became clear he would outgrow the club more rapidly than expected as Dortmund knew he was only passing through, and that amid his “love” for Dortmund there would be frustration.

Bellingham was such a competitor that he thought nothing of calling out older team-mates on the pitch and was caught on camera furiously berating team-mate Nico Schulz during the Europa League defeat by Rangers, after a misplaced pass struck him on the back. There were expletives and it was much debated in Germany.

But what was also becoming clear with Bellingham was the high emotional intelligence he has and, under more exposure, that becomes more evident. For example, he is acutely aware of the needs of others and has developed into a generous and thoughtful team-mate. Bellingham is not self-centred and began to show his character in the way he interacted with fans – such as when he jumped on Erling Haaland’s back during the striker’s goal celebrations in a dramatic 4-3 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Bellingham caught a beer thrown at him, one-handed, and took a swig before spitting it out. He later said it was the first time he had tasted alcohol while he was one of the first players to set the trend of handing his shirt to a young fan after a game. It was genuine and not for effect.

Almost from his arrival, Dortmund were fielding enquiries as to when he would be sold. When that day came, two years later, it was to Real Madrid. Bellingham’s parents spoke to other clubs and – at one stage – Manchester City believed they would get him. Pep Guardiola was all-in and was prepared to allow captain Ilkay Gundogan to leave on a free and sell Bernardo Silva to make space. This was a generational talent, after all. Liverpool were in the running as were United – again – but after the deal to Madrid was confirmed it transpired he was only ever going to go there.

It later felt fated that it would be Dortmund who Madrid faced in the Champions League final at Wembley on June 1 with Kehl recalling how thoughtful Bellingham was. “I was in touch with Jude before the final at Wembley, we wrote some messages, there was also an exchange with the parents,” he says. “And of course I congratulated him on his success after the final. The fact that he himself said in an interview that Borussia Dortmund was somehow the better team shows what a fair sportsman Jude Bellingham is.”

‘Beckham was a great player but technically he is not as good as Bellingham’

“It wouldn’t be surprising to see Bellingham win the Ballon d’Or, given that at 20 he’s already one of the best players in the world,” Javier Tebas, the chief executive of La Liga tells Telegraph Sport.

Tebas is never knowingly undersold but his boyish enthusiasm for Bellingham is remarkable – as is the impact the young Brummie has made at the world’s biggest club. “The ‘Bellingham effect’ has been so impressive for so many reasons and especially because of how quickly and seamlessly he has become a leader of Real Madrid,” Tebas adds. “And his adaptation to the club and Spanish football has been unbelievable.

“Players often need time to adjust when joining a club of this size and with this level of expectation but his effect both on and off the pitch has been instant and even greater than many expected.”

There has even been an uplift in interest in La Liga since Bellingham was signed – he does his own social media to remain authentic and that has had an astonishing effect – and especially in “the English-speaking markets”. The numbers are incredible. Smartly, also, Bellingham has embraced learning Spanish. He did not take to German so easily – partly because everyone in Dortmund spoke English; partly because, maybe, he always knew he was probably only ever passing through. But Madrid and the Madridistas are different.

Lessons are difficult to factor in during a season but Brahim Diaz has become Bellingham’s unofficial teacher which is all the more impressive as he has arguably taken the Moroccan’s place in the Madrid team. But the pair are close.

There was also an end of season interview with Victorio Calero, a presenter with Real Madrid TV, in which Bellingham’s command of the language is superb – especially how good his accent is. And there was a confident speech during Madrid’s La Liga trophy parade at Plaza de Cibeles, where they traditionally congregate on big trophy nights.

“For a newcomer his Spanish is already of a very high level. Better than any English player in the past,” says the respected football intermediary Kenneth Asquez who works extensively in Spain. He also told Telegraph Sport that Bellingham’s “impact has been massive. Huge. It has been on a level with David Beckham when he arrived. But Beckham was more from a worldwide media and marketing point of view. Beckham was a great player but technically he is not as good as Bellingham. Beckham also arrived in a Madrid side on the crest of a big wave. Bellingham is in a team being rebuilt.”

Which brings us to the football. Bellingham’s brilliance has been well-chronicled during his first campaign in Madrid after signing a six-year contract and taking the No 5 shirt in homage to Zinedine Zidane. But, honestly, this is unprecedented. Not just for an English player but for any player. Ever. Cristiano Ronaldo did not do what Bellingham has done in year one and not at that tender age.

It is a season in which Madrid have won the league and Champions League, the midfielder has been their top scorer, he has been chosen as the best player in La Liga and even Luka Modric has been wowed by him.

Why does that matter? Well, it takes a lot to impress the 38-year-old Croatian – a former Ballon D’Or winner who now has six Champions League winners’ medals – but he was caught in the changing rooms at Madrid’s Valdebebas training ground copying Bellingham’s body shape and striking an imaginary ball as he simulated a pass the young man had executed out on the practice pitch.

“Jude has shown to everyone what kind of player and what talent he is,” Modric says. “But what most surprised me about him was his mentality. Work ethic. This is second to none. It’s amazing. Every training session. Every game. Full. How he competes, his winning mentality. This is what has most impressed me about him apart from his footballing quality. His football IQ is amazing.”

Modric was not the only one surprised by Bellingham’s impact. Coach Carlo Ancelotti – who Bellingham has a strong relationship with and who the player was delighted signed a new contract – has been taken aback by him as has Antonio Rudiger. “I have to be really honest. Before I did not really know much about him. But he kind of took everyone by surprise,” the German defender says. “To come here at the age of 20 and deliver as he did so far – I have to give him kudos for this.”

Bellingham speaks every day to his younger brother Jobe and their parents split their time between Madrid and Sunderland, where Jobe plays. Denise mainly in Spain and Mark in England. It means Jude has moved to Madrid, living in the exclusive La Finca gated estate which is favoured by the club’s players, in a highly stable environment and has arrived at training either being driven by his mother or in an Uber.

Not that he is a callow kid. In Madrid they already refer to him as “el jefe” (the boss) and it would be no surprise if he eventually captained the club.

Bellingham is savvy. His Christ-like pose goal celebration has almost become a trademark and he and his advisers have smartly chosen which brands to align themselves with.

In fact Bellingham has already made it clear he expects to spend the bulk of his career at Real Madrid – and why not? – which raises the distinct prospect that the greatest talent of his generation will never play in the Premier League.

Southgate’s England ‘catalyst’

The England camp under Gareth Southgate has been transformed. Players are far happier, more relaxed and mix more freely. Some, though, still want their own space and are far less conspicuous than others. Not Jude Bellingham.

He is present everywhere having forged strong friendships in the squad – especially with Reece James, although the Chelsea captain has been hampered by injury and not featured for some time, and Trent Alexander-Arnold. But as with all the teams Bellingham has played for he has a pleasing ability to mingle with both the older players and the young ones.

His ‘bromance’ with Jordan Henderson at the last World Cup was genuine with Southgate saying he had been “taken under the wing” of the then Liverpool captain. Just as Bellingham has sought to copy Modric and Toni Kroos at Madrid, even warming up next to them. At the same time he has close bonds with the likes of Eduardo Camavinga, the 21-year-old French midfielder, and uses the barbers – Camavinga House – his older brother Sebastiao has set up in Madrid.

England staff have been amazed at how seamlessly Bellingham has fitted in after becoming the youngest ever player to represent the Three Lions at a tournament. “His evolution has been so rapid. He’s going to be an amazing player for England not just in the next tournament but the next 10 to 15 years as well,” one says. “He has incredible attributes and character and personality, especially for his age. And he delivers in key moments as we have seen particularly this season.”

Bellingham has commanded instant respect within the squad and naturally that has only grown since moving to Madrid.

“He’s one of the jokers of the team,” Declan Rice says. “He’s hilarious. He’s a top lad. Honestly, I can’t speak highly of him. The type of person I like to be around, we’re on the same page. One thing I would say about him is that he gets on with everyone. The lads love him, such a bright bubbly character who wears his heart on his sleeve. When things don’t go right, he says it. That is the biggest compliment – he is young but says how it is and is there to better himself and better everyone.”

As with his clubs Bellingham interacts with the fans and has responded to The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’ being played over the PA at the final whistle in England games at Wembley. Little wonder Southgate already refers to him as “the catalyst”. His charisma is not only natural but infectious.

Out in Germany for the European Championship it is clear Bellingham is the star. Even Harry Kane does not mind. At an open training session for fans at Carl Zeiss Jena’s stadium on Tuesday, near England’s base, it was Bellingham who was in greatest demand and it was Bellingham who was last to leave as he satisfied every autograph seeker and selfie request.

He is a future England captain if, crucially, his parents allow him to speak more freely to the media which is the only negative issue affecting him. And it is an issue – not that fans care, of course. Bellingham is a baller, a marketing and sporting dream. A good-looking kid with the world at his feet and who is, undeniably, grounded. They say he does not even have a tattoo while there is not only a timeless quality to his football but also to his appearance.

As that perceptive original Bordeaux scouting report says he is an incredible talent who demands the highest standards of himself and whichever team he plays for. Fortunately, for England, it is them.