Bellingham will for now play in Zidane’s #5 shirt.
He didnt start well, but he picked up an ankle injury before the end of his first season that was not well treated by Real and he subsequently never really recovered from. Maybe the senior pros like Kroos dont think he did enough to help himself, and as a player in his prime was never known for showing up in top shape and maybe at 30 that finally caught up to him. But you cannot look past the ankle injuries with his fall. Once you’re having a second surgery to correct an issue with the prior one you know you’re not in a good place.
Good Luck Jude…
I didn’t really follow what happened to him, but it is quite the fall from grace.
The double surgery is indeed a bad sign, suggesting his career really might be done. His pace was always a critical part of his game, so his shelf life was going to be limited.
I believe him. He’s got lots of money. Where else could he go play and get all those calls from the referee?
He had a plate put in his ankle after a break when he was at Chelsea. It was a relatively straight forward procedure and he recovered fine. However he had complications with it during his first season at real and never recovered.
From what I remember, he picked up a knock that looked innocuous but gave him real issues and he ended up being operated on with a second plate inserted. He never felt that the surgery went well, continued to feel issues with it feeling it was affecting his gait and leading to a sequence of other injuries. He was pushing Real to reoperate on advice of Belgium’s and his own doctor, but Real didnt agree. About a year later they finally agreed to operate to remove the second plate. That was the end of the season before the one that just finished, but by that point he’d been dealing with the issues for over 2 years and had picked up a long list of associated injuries.
What it looks like from a distance is Real not wanting to commit to a longer period of absence for an ageing expensive star and instead hoping they can squeeze something out of him with a bit of him “sucking it up”. That is exactly the sort of dehumanizing treatment by a club that turns a player into someone who just shows up for the paychecks he is contractually owed.
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No player who goes to Real should ever be shocked that they are treated as a consumable.
If it’s not about money Jude, play for nothing.
Or.
Play for less than what your brother will be getting at Sunderland.
You know, really rub the salt in the wounds where the Bellingham’s are concerned.
When it’s not about money they don’t mention it or laugh it off.
Key quotes for me:
It had all started 15 months ago. “I had always been aware of interest from England, so that was pretty normal,” Bellingham said. “But it was a bit of a surprise when Dad sat me down and told me about Madrid. I got goosebumps, my heart was close to stopping.
“At the World Cup, with the national team, it is hard,” Bellingham said. “They all wanted me to come back to England and play for their team but I like the idea of being out of my comfort zone. Maybe it’s easier to go back to the Premier League but I just couldn’t turn down Madrid.
The exact moment it was done is hard to say, but I had the meeting when they came to my house and I was sold [on the idea], to be honest. The [2022] final when they beat Liverpool was a huge factor but there are a load of things that go into making the decision.”
So we really needed to have pushed to sign him back in the summer of 2021/January 2022!!! The fee is a great deal too btw. Unless injury derails his career he is definitely the player we will most rue missing out on; an absolute platinum grade star who would have been absolutely perfect for us.
Barcelona have reached an agreement with Samuel Umtiti for the termination of the contract.
Así anuncia su despedida uno de los últimos bajitos que enamoraron a una generación. El último (?) mediapunta a la antigua usanza
— Noventa F.C. (@noventafc_) July 27, 2023
🪄🪄🧙♂️🧙♂️🎩🎩pic.twitter.com/6mDHMCamxa
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Best player City had since the sheikh days.
Yeah, it’s made it easier to dislike them as well since he left.
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Yeah replacing David with Bernardo who is much more in Pep’s image the cheating twat.
Im reading today that Barca have not only not met the financial markers necessary to register any of their new signings yet, they also havent been able to register any of their existing players who are on new contracts this year. That includes Alonso, Arajuo and Roberto.
Doesn’t matter.
They will not doubt sell the tv rights for 10 years after the current deal gets renewed (which has already been sold off itself) to be able to pay off the league and refs to allow them to keep winning.
And worst case scenerio they probably have some of Messi’s dna tucked away somewhere to be sold off for
This piece on the background on the Dembele move paints Barca as an utter shambles
They dont even know the terms of the deal they struck with him last year that is now enabling him to leave for essentially nothing. Barca are going to bank only 25m on the deal, and due to the La Liga sanctions can only put 9 million of that to new signings.
They’re acting all indignant over a player moving elsewhere for more money…when they have spent the last 4 years strong arming their players to accept reduced contracts to allow them to get themselves out a hole they created for themselves.
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