Bellingham wants to be a role model off the pitch as well as on it

It’s already been an amazing year for Jude Bellingham.

Soon after his Borussia Dortmund side lost the Bundesliga title to rivals Bayern Munich on the last day of the 2022-23 season, he joined Spanish giants Real Madrid.

Since then, he has helped Los Blancos to win La Liga and the Champions League and been named La Liga Player of the Year for a season where he scored 19 goals in 28 games, from midfield.

In the second El Clasico of the season at the newly refurbished Bernabeu, the Englishman wrote his name in Madrid folklore by scoring a late winner to put Madrid 11 points clear in La Liga and ultimately seal their title win.

So it was no surprise when, a day later, Bellingham won the prestigious Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year Award, which was presented to him at the Palacio de Cibeles.

“I’m delighted,” said Bellingham. “Simply being here was already an honour. Being named Laureus Breakthrough is a privilege and I have to thank many people, my family, friends and above all the people at Real Madrid who have helped me this year.

“Being here is a privilege, alongside incredible athletes. I hope I can learn something from them tonight before I go home.

“It’s been a good week for the club and on a personal level. When the team wins, I’m always happy. I feel a bit tired after the Clásico and the 120 minutes in Manchester and this award gives me a bit more energy.

“This club is special. Signing for Real Madrid is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It’s the highlight of 2023. I’m grateful to be able to play here every day and to be surrounded by very special people.“

Unsurprisingly, Bellingham understands that with his profile and meteoric rise, he is seen as a role model and an inspiration to others.

Speaking at the Laureus World Sports Awards evening he added: “I got into football because I love it and there is a responsibility that comes with that, the impact that you can have on kids.

"It's important that I try to be a good role model. I'm not perfect but I want to have a lasting impact on youth growing up.

"It's important as athletes that as we become more popular we end up having a platform and we understand our responsibility for the next generation

"I want to help people along the way and give people the opportunity to get to get to where I have got to, because other people have given me that chance.”

Unsurprisingly, Bellingham started doing charity work soon after he made his debit for Birmingham, at just 16, supporting The Mustard Seed Project which provides food, education and health care to deprived children in Kenya.

He still supports that initiative today, but said at the time: ”It’s something I’m really passionate about. Some friends of the family have set up a charity that helps students in Kenya. It’s not a very wealthy country and a lot of people go into a school without good facilities.

“It’s important to me to help that kind of community when I can. I want to be remembered, not just for football but for my actions off the pitch. The only way I can do that is by carrying on doing what I’ve started to set in motion.

“The ultimate aim is to make as much positive impact as I can,” he added. “The project currently is to build as many classrooms as possible and I think as I grow, the charity will grow as well.

“The more attention I get from doing good things on the pitch, hopefully that will crossover to the charity, so it’s definitely at the back of my mind as a driving factor for me to keep working hard and performing well so that the charity can benefit too.

“We recently sent some kit out for the football team. I saw a picture and it gave me a great feeling seeing how happy they were and knowing how much it will help them going forward.

“From an off the pitch point of view, it’s one of the best things I think I can do, so I’m just really excited to continue with that work.”

Regular Calacus readers will know that we firmly believe that sport has the power to change the world, as Nelson Mandela said at the inaugral Laureus World Sports Awards in 2000.

High profile athletes also have a responsibility to use their platform positively and it’s a credit to Bellingham that he recognised from an early age that, with his profile, he can make a huge difference to disadvantaged communities.