‘Nobody close’ to Jude Bellingham after Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo ‘reset’ as Real Madrid & England star is backed for Ballon d’Or triumph

He also has Kopa Trophy and Golden Boy honours to his name, with the expectation being that the talented 20-year-old will help to lead world football into an exciting new era as all-time greats Messi and Ronaldo begin to fade out of the picture.

Former England star and fellow West Midlands native Stan Collymore shares that opinion and has told CaughtOffside of why Bellingham deserves to be recognised as the best player in the planet: “I want the Ballon d’Or to be given on sporting merit, but it’s not. Or at least it hasn’t been for a while. I think we’ve got to a ridiculous situation where the Ballon d’Or has become a subjective decision given out because of the emotional attachment and which is always going to reward players that have been in the game for a long time. Think of the Oscars and a Lifetime Achievement Award… the Ballon d’Or should not be a Lifetime Achievement Award, it should be an ‘in the now’ achievement award. It needs a reset after the Messi and Ronaldo years, and now we’ve got the luxury of having Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Vini Jr., Phil Foden, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham… a number of quality younger players that are playing for big clubs and are doing the business.

“What Bellingham is doing really is arguably the greatest achievement by an English player abroad and I say that going all the way back to the likes of John Charles who had a massive impact on Juventus, Denis Law, Jimmy Greaves, Liam Brady, Steve McManaman, David Beckham… Every week he’s been playing against the very best in the world and for a relative top-flight rookie to walk into that club with such confidence from day one is quite extraordinary. We’ve started to see him get forward that little bit more and score important goals, and he’s been the conduit for the rest of his team-mates at arguably the biggest club on the planet. He’s not the finished article by any means but show me another player that’s had a bigger impact on their club in terms of making them a consistent threat at home and abroad. You can’t find one. So it absolutely makes sense for him to be Ballon d’Or, and to do it at a club that can swallow you up and spit you out… I don’t think anybody else comes close this year.”

Bellingham’s Madrid colleague, Vinicius Jr, may have something to say about the Ballon d’Or vote. He has also been in inspired form for Real this season and, as Bellingham goes in search of Euro 2024 glory this summer, also has international honours to chase down with Brazil at the upcoming Copa America.