This past summer, 23-year-old Jude Bellingham equaled a record six goals for England during the World Cup, which tied the most non penalty goals in a single tournament by an English player. There is no doubt that he is the best centre attacking midfielder in the world, but is he the best midfielder in general?
After moving to Real Madrid in summer of 2023, Bellingham has scored 37 goals and 20 assists, but Madrid hasn’t seen nearly as much success as they did during the 2010s. Much of the criticism of Bellingham as a player is his lack of trophies on both a national and club level.
Although Bellingham has had stellar performances for both Real Madrid and England, his failure to produce trophies works against him in an argument to claim he is the best player in the world — something many fans use when comparing players across positions. Now when we compare him to other midfielders, we should focus more on his individual play, not just team success.
Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Rodri, and England teammate Declan Rice are all contenders, as well as Bellingham, in debates surrounding the current best midfielders. Much of this conversation can be challenging due to different roles that all of these players play.
For example, when Bellingham plays for Real Madrid he plays the 10, dominating much of the upper left side of the field and the box. When Declan Rice plays for Arsenal he plays much deeper than Bellingham, typically operating on the right side of the pitch outside of the box. A comparison of the two, especially across different leagues and this early in the season, holds little to no weight.
Now, comparing the two during this past World Cup can be more significant, but still doesn’t place the two on an equal footing. Similar to that of their club play, Bellingham plays higher than Rice — we can see this through their goal contributions. Rice had 1 goal and 2 assists, with his goal and one assist coming in the third place match against France.
Players like Morgan Rogers, Elliot Anderson, Anthony Gordon, Ezri Konsa, Ollie Watkins, Liam Delap and James Trafford all sold for between 15 and 40 Million Euros more than their projected transfer market value. As an English player, if Bellingham was playing at the same level as he was at Real Madrid, but instead for an English Big 6 team, would this debate be a no brainer?
What does Bellingham have left to prove?
“Jude Bellingham England v Ghana 23 June 2026-182” by Bryan Berlin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
