Bellingham: "The Credit Goes to Ancelotti"
Jude Bellingham acknowledged that his great season at Real Madrid, where he has scored 22 goals and provided eight assists, is "credit" to his coach, Carlo Ancelotti, for his change of position from Borussia Dortmund and the "freedom" he grants him.
"It's the role that suits me best in this team. When I have the freedom to move up, drop back, pass the last line, and have the ball to play and create, I feel very good and feel like I can get involved in any action of the game and try to do my defensive work as well," he said in an interview with UEFA.
"The credit goes to the coach for giving me that license. It's not easy to see someone who has played in a deeper position for so long at Dortmund and find something that makes you think that I would do well playing a little higher up. Honestly, all the credit goes to Ancelotti," he added.
Winner of LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup in his first season at Real Madrid, Jude hopes to finish with a flourish with the Champions League.
"I only think about collective goals. People talk about everything else. I always think about the teammates I work with, who are there in the bad times and with whom you enjoy the good ones. And how nice it would be to lift all those trophies together and reward the work everyone has done during the season. That's the ultimate goal of football. If we were to talk in a year, I would like to have a Champions League and be in another semifinal," he wished.
Bellingham admitted that he "didn't think" he would reach success "so quickly," happy with the demand he has found at Real Madrid that helps him improve in every game.
"This club is always the maximum you can aspire to in football. It has been the level I wanted to reach and the level I could reach, but I didn't think I would get there so quickly. I feel grateful every day to be able to represent Real Madrid. Now it's a big part of my life, it's my life really. It was always my goal," he said.
The English midfielder revealed that his number, 5, was the one his father wore with a Zinedine Zidane white shirt. "I used to ask him who that player was on the shirt and he would tell me that when I was older we would watch him on Youtube. Now, as I wear the number 5, it's a great story," he recounted.
