Jude Bellingham: three goals, three assists and a new role under Mourinho
Jude Bellingham has three La Liga goals and three assists for Real Madrid after a World Cup where he scored seven. Here is why he is a top-10 name right now.
Jude Bellingham has one of the most recognised names in football and a season that is still finding its shape. The numbers are modest. The context is not.
The numbers
ESPN's La Liga table has Bellingham on 3 goals and 3 assists from 10 matches for Real Madrid. That sits far below Kylian Mbappé's 11 goals in the same team, but Madrid are third on ESPN's table, three points behind Barcelona and four behind Atlético Madrid.
Sports Illustrated reported on 13 August that he scored seven goals in eight appearances for England at the 2026 World Cup, where England finished third. It also noted that he had a disrupted 2025-26 with injuries, finishing with nine goals and six assists, his lowest totals since joining Madrid.
Why he matters
He is a World Cup standout who plays for the club with the most pressure in Spain, and he is a test of whether the new manager can make Madrid's stars fit together. Sports Illustrated reports that Bellingham has often had to cover space for Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior, and that José Mourinho could free him to play nearer the goal.
What nobody else does
Few midfielders arrive in the box late and score as often as Bellingham did in the summer. Sports Illustrated notes he has played false nine, number 10, left midfield, central midfield and quasi-fullback for Madrid, which tells you how many jobs he can do.
In his own words: "it's a dream for me to work with a coach like Mourinho." The coach's task is to decide which of his many jobs matters most.
What's next
Raising the three goals while the team stays in the title race. If Mourinho does give him a number 10 role, the next few matches will show it.
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