Ronaldo says Bellingham ‘reminds me of Zidane’ as Real Madrid legend ‘surprised by his quality’
Real Madrid legend Ronaldo Nazario says Jude Bellingham has reminded him of Zinedine Zidane with the “quality” of his displays for the Spanish giants this season.
Bellingham moved to Madrid for £90m in the summer and has got 20 goals and nine assists in all competitions in his debut season.
And Ronaldo, who won two La Liga titles in his time with Los Blancos, says he’s been surprised by the England international this term, likening him to former teammate and fellow Galactico Zidane.
Ronaldo the new Zidane?
Ronaldo told the Daily Mail: “I love the way Jude Bellingham plays. The way he is playing at Madrid, scoring goals in almost every match, I love to watch him play. He goes forward all the time.
“I was watching a few matches in the Bernabeu stadium and I was looking for Bellingham. He surprised me a lot with his quality. The speed at which he runs into the area, you can see he wants to score goals all the time. He reminds me a little bit of Zinedine Zidane with his quality.”
He could have been a Red Devil
Bellingham toured the Manchester United training ground before moving to Borussia Dortmund for £25m from Birmingham City in 2020.
And Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the United boss at the time, says he and other Old Trafford alumni did their best to lure him to the club, but the teenager’s maturity put him on the right track.
“He knew what he wanted. Jude, he was in the building,” Solskjaer said on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast,
“You can’t ask a lot more for a midfielder. I was there (to meet Bellingham) obviously as the manager. Sir Alex (Ferguson) was there. Bryan Robson was there and (Eric) Cantona was there that day when he came to the club.
“We all spoke to him. Of course, we sold it to him as well as we could, but he knew what he wanted. (Bellingham chose Dortmund because of) X amount of minutes in the first team. That’s it.
“The most mature 17-year-old I’ve ever met in my life.”
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