Jude Bellingham WILL win the Ballon d’Or

Former Real Madrid player James Rodriguez is convinced that Jude Bellingham will win the Ballon d’Or.

The England international enjoyed a surreal debut season at Real Madrid last term. After joining from Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham instantly became a key player for Los Blancos.

Due to Real Madrid having had Joselu as their only recognised striker, Bellingham was turned into a box-crashing attacking midfielder by Carlo Ancelotti and this gambit worked wonders.

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Bellingham recorded a whopping 23 goals and 13 assists in his first season at Real Madrid and duly finished third in the 2024 Ballon d’Or ranking. His sophomore campaign has been more subdued due to the arrival of Kylian Mbappe.

It took Bellingham a while to come to grips with his new, more withdrawn role, but he has returned to peak form in recent months. So far this season, the 21-year-old has scored 11 goals and provided 11 assists.

Bellingham to win the Ballon d’Or

It is as yet unclear who will win the 2025 Ballon d’Or. The likes of Mohamed Salah, Raphinha, Ousmane Dembele, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr will all be in with a shout, but it is too early to predict a winner in March.

As for Bellingham, he may not win this year’s award, but former Real Madrid star James Rodriguez firmly believes that his time for individual glory will come eventually.

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Speaking to AS, the Colombian drew parallels to his own debut season at Real Madrid in which he scored 17 goals and provided 18 assists across all competitions and tipped Bellingham for Ballon d’Or success.

“I scored more than 14 goals and 15 assists, I think. It was a spectacular year, similar to the year Bellingham had in his first season,” Rodriguez, who is now at Club Leon in Mexico, said. “I really like the way he plays. I think he could win a Ballon d’Or.

Rodriguez then suggested that it could be easier for Bellingham to win the prize nowadays than it was for him a decade ago. “Of course, to win the Ballon d’Or, I had [Lionel] Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, [Andres] Iniesta, Xavi, [Luis] Suarez, Neymar in 2014. I finished eighth with these greats ahead of me.”