Barcelona legend and 1994 Ballon d’Or winner Hristo Stoichkov has insisted that Jude Bellingham didn’t need to win Tuttosport’s Golden Boy award.
Bellingham received the Golden Boy award – given out to the very best under-21 footballer of the 12 months – after accumulating a record-equalling 97% of the votes – Kylian Mbappe achieved the identical determine when he received the award in 2017.
The 20-year-old joined Actual Madrid through the summer time switch window after spending three seasons with Borussia Dortmund, and has since taken his sport to the subsequent degree. Bellingham has scored an unbelievable 13 objectives in 14 appearances for the 14-time Champions League winners, main his staff to essential victories each domestically and in Europe.
Regardless of Bellingham’s achievements, former Barcelona star Stoichkov advised Tuttosport that in his opinion there have been extra deserving winners neglected, and pointed to the dearth of trophies that the attacking midfielder received in 2023 as his reasoning.
“No [he shouldn’t have won]. I don’t dispute his worth. He’s one of many strongest abilities on the earth: he’s obtained quite a lot of class and quite a lot of brains,” the Bulgarian mentioned.
“For me, he’s a mix of Michael Laudrup, Kaka and Paul Pogba. The long run is his. The subsequent Ballon d’Or might be performed with him, Mbappe and Haaland, however I’d wish to know what he received in 2023 between Borussia Dortmund and Actual Madrid. Nothing…
“On condition that Gavi, the reigning winner, was not eligible underneath the rules I’d have given it to [Jamal] Musiala or [Alejandro] Balde – who received La Liga and the Spanish Tremendous Cup with Barcelona.”
Bellingham got here inside a whisker of successful the Bundesliga title on the finish of the 2022/23 marketing campaign with Dortmund, however was injured on the ultimate day of the season and as an alternative watched his staff come up quick to Bayern Munich.
Due to Madrid’s spectacular begin to the season in each La Liga and the Champions League, Bellingham might be quietly assured of getting maintain of his first winner’s medal by the point his first 12 months on the Santiago Bernabeu attracts to a detailed.
