Jude Bellingham has named legendary Real Madrid player and manager Zinedine Zidane as his dream teammate.
The England international has just finished representing his country in clashes with Andorra and Senegal—after which he was criticized by manager Thomas Tuchel—and now sets his attention to the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup in the United States with Real Madrid.
The 21-year-old and his clubmates kick off their campaign against Al Hilal on June 18, with Bellingham quizzed by FIFA in the build-up to the tournament about the one player from history he would most love to play alongside.
“Zidane, easily,” enthused Bellingham. “I’d just give him the ball and just watch him! It’d be like watching YouTube up close. So, that would be by far my favorite one. Mind you, I wouldn’t want to play a whole season [with Zidane]. I don’t think I’d get any minutes!”
Bellingham’s admiration for Zidane is nothing new, with the midfielder even choosing the No.5 jersey at Madrid to copy his hero. Speaking last year, he admitted: “My dad always wore a Madrid [shirt] around the house, with ‘Zidane 5’ on the back, which is funny because it's kind of gone full circle and he gifted it to me when I joined in the summer.
“I was like: ‘Who’s this guy that you’re always wearing on your shirt?’ And he was like: “Well, when you’re old enough, we’ll get you onto YouTube.’ Now that I wear the No.5, it’s ended up being quite a significant story.”
Bellingham will dream of emulating the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner during his time in the Spanish capital and he’s made a pretty impressive start.
The attacking midfielder, who is reminiscent of Zidane in certain aspects of his game, has already won five titles with Madrid and finished third in the 2024 Ballon d’Or vote. But he will be fully aware that he still has some way to go to match, or even surpass, Zidane’s extraordinary legacy.
READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Like Watching YouTube’—Jude Bellingham Names Real Madrid Icon As Dream Teammate.
