The numbers behind Jude Bellingham's incredible Real Madrid start
Only a few months into his big-money move to Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham has seamlessly settled into life in one of the most high pressure football environments. His attacking output of three assists and a goal every game, bar two, across all competitions have surprised fans and pundits alike.
Historically, English players are not great exports, and have a reputation of being slow to settle into their new environment. Although Bellingham could rely on his experiences of moving to Dortmund, no one expected him to have such a blistering start to life in the Spanish capital.
It’s not just his goals and assists, but the way the 20-year-old is already combining with his new teammates. It is as if he has played at the Santiago Bernabeu for several seasons. This is what happens when you take a world class talent and surround him with other world class players.
The last player to make such a great start after a big-money move was someone named Cristiano Ronaldo. But Bellingham’s eight goals and two assists in his first 10 La Liga games have bettered even Ronaldo’s numbers after his then world-record transfer from Manchester United.
Jude Bellingham transfer value - how much is he worth now?
According to our player valuation model, Bellinhgham is the third most valuable player in the world with a current Expected Transfer Value (xTV) of €125.3m.
His xTV has already gone up by over €20m since Madrid parted with €103m for his services. If he keeps up these performances, we will be looking at the most expensive bargain in history.
The data behind Bellingham’s incredible start at Madrid
Madrid were in a critical stage of transition as they slowly phased out the veteran duo of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. The unexpected loss of star striker Karim Benzema at the start of this season made matters worse.
The Madristas expected Kylian Mbappe to arrive, but Bellingham was the only big signing of the summer. The lack of a star striker was worrying, but manager Carlo Ancelotti was calm and said that the club can overcome Benzema’s absence with the signing of the England international.
This sounded very strange at the time, but the club now finds itself sitting on the top of the league heading into the international break, with Bellinham leading the league goal scoring chart.
The Italian tactician made this possible by deploying a new 4-3-1-2 system, with Bellingham sitting on the top of a midfield diamond. The new role is redefining how we see him and now requires him to play in a much more advanced position than he did at Borussia Dortmund.
The data also highlights this change.
By taking up higher positions on the pitch, the Englishman is not tasked with build-up as much, but now has more responsibility to get on the end of passes to score and assist. You can see this in his key passes, which have gone up from 1.1 to 2.1 per 90.
His expected goal (xG) figure has also more than doubled from last season to an impressive 0.53 per 90. This is a consequence of him getting into more advanced positions and taking more shots per 90 minutes than he used to.
More interestingly, he is now taking fewer shots from long range but is attempting 2.1 shots per 90 from inside the penalty area, which is almost twice what he was taking at Dortmund.
His dribble numbers are about the same as last season, but he is now taking on opponents with his powerful runs in areas that can cause more damage.
But the most impressive aspect of this change has been his finishing. Bellingham’s goals have not been lucky goals or penalties. He has shown great composure in front of goal and even spread the goals around - six with his dominant right foot, two with his left and two with his head.
Madrid’s new system is still a work in progress, but Bellingham’s quick adjustment shows that the team can be built around him. If he keeps his consistency, we might just witness the evolution of a young talent into possibly the best player in the world.
This article was provided by FootballTransfers
