Real Madrid starlet Jude Bellingham has revealed his childhood idols and they are neither Ronaldo or Messi. The 20-year-old joined Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in the summer transfer window. Bellingham has had a phenomenal start to life at Real Madrid. Bellingham has 13 goals and 3 assists for Madrid in 13 games. For his performances last season as well as this season, he was awarded the 2023 Kopa Trophy.
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When asked about his childhood idols, Bellingham named three surprising players as his answer. Most upcoming stars in football have looked up to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi while growing up, but instead of choosing these obvious names, the Real Madrid star went for former Birmingham City players Craig Gardner, Sebastian Larsson, and Lee Bowyer.
He said:
“I admired the players from Birmingham, the team that won the League Cup at Wembley (in 2011). My heroes were Seb Larsson, Craig Gardner, Lee Bowyer. As I got more into it myself, Dad was the most important.”
Why did Jude Bellingham not choose Ronaldo or Messi as his idols
Birmingham City famously won the league cup final at Wembley in 2011. Birmingham City managed to beat Arsenal 2-1 to win the 2011 Football League Cup. Seb Larsson, Craig Gardner, and Lee Bowyer were a part of this Birmingham City team which managed to achieve this feat. Obafemi Martins scored a late winner for Birmingham after a mix up between Arsenal Keeper Wojciech Szczesny and defender Laurent Koscielny.
Jude Bellingham was born in Stourbridge and grew up supporting Birmingham City. Bellingham started his football career at Birmingham as well. He was a part of Birmingham’s youth academy and played for their first team in 2019 and 2020. He left the club in 2020 to join Borussia Dortmund but it is clear that his childhood club still holds a very important place for him.
While the players Bellingham named as his idols are not as well known as Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, they are legends at Birmingham City. Therefore, it does not come as too big a shock that the players Bellingham idolised while growing up played for the club that he supported as a child. While Birmingham City were relegated in the same season they won the Football League Cup, their win over Arsenal in the final will forever be etched into history.
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