Exclusive: ‘Exceptionally difficult thing to do’ – McManaman on ‘rare’ Bellingham

What Jude Bellingham has been able to do in his debut season at Real Madrid was “exceptionally difficult” and just shows how “rare” a player he is, according to Steve McManaman.

Bellingham signed for Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund over the summer for a fee of €103 million (£88m) and has had an incredible debut season.

He is the joint-top scorer in La Liga with 16 goals in 22 games as Real sit top of the league and are into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

“I think everybody has to be impressed really, I’ve been very impressed with what he’s been able to do,” McManaman said. “I spoke to the people around Madrid and to the president last week when I was over there for a charity game and they said they love him.

“They love his attitude on the pitch. They love his attitude off the pitch. They love how he’s tried to integrate with the team. But what he’s done on the pitch has been truly exceptional.

“They’re clear at the top of the league, he’s been the leading goalscorer, he stepped up to the mark, and there’s a lot of pressure on him being a big-money signing, not having a centre-forward and of course he’s taken Zizou’s [Zinedine Zidane] shirt [the No. 5].

“And he’s absolutely responded to all of that without even blinking, and he’s just, he’s taken it all in his stride and he’s been really comfortable.”

McManaman was a star for Madrid during his playing career, helping the club to win two Champions League titles after moving to Spain from Liverpool in 1999.

When asked to try and put into context how impressive it is to see what Bellingham is doing, McManaman pointed to the major pressure the midfielder has to deal with.

McManaman said: “It’s possibly the biggest club in the world, there’s probably more pressure on that club than anywhere else in the world.

“I think the fact that he’s gone in as a big-money signing and the fact that Real Madrid didn’t win the league last year, or the Champions League, was a huge amount of pressure on straight away, because of the history of the club.

“At every turn at the Bernabeu or at Valdebebas [the training ground] there are pictures of past teams winning trophies. So instantly, when you come into the club, and you’re a big-money signing the pressure is on you.

“Then you have the fact that he doesn’t speak the language, and he doesn’t really know the culture, there’s more pressure on you, because you have to learn the language you’re already starting behind the eight-ball really.

“So the fact that he’s done that, and he’s risen to that, to be one of the leaders in such a short space of time, I think is exceptional. But the pressure on the club and their desire to win is paramount.

“Once you join, you have to win every single year. That doesn’t necessarily happen with teams in England, because there’s so much more competition. In Spain, if you are Real Madrid, and you have a bad year where you don’t win anything, it’s a major problem. And they won the Copa del Rey last year but still, that’s not enough.

“And then you have the fact that there was a bit of a turnover of players [Karim Benzema, Marco Asensio and Eden Hazard departing over the summer] with big players leaving, and people getting injured at the start of the season such as Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao, there’s more pressure on you then.

“But for Jude if you score the winner that day [opening day of the season when Militao was injured against Athletic Club] then it shows your team-mates and the fans that from the first minute, you belong at Real Madrid, particularly when he’s such a young lad.

“That’s what you have to remember. He was 19 at the time, now 20. That is an exceptionally difficult thing to do, to go to a club of that magnitude that’s rare.”

McManaman also said he feels it speaks volumes about Bellingham that he chose to go to a club like Madrid at a young age.

“If you’re a football player, no matter how old or young you are you want to be successful,” he said. “He was less successful at Dortmund, particularly last year when they should have won the league. So he wants to go to the biggest club in the world and be successful and add to the history of their 14 Champions Leagues, etc, etc.

“That’s the most glamorous place right now, with the new stadium which is virtually finished now and is off-the-scale incredible, and their ability to bring players in, and of course the lifestyle and how he will be treated in Madrid. It goes without saying that it was a huge step up for him from Dortmund. A huge step up from a lot of English teams. So it was always the pinnacle for him to get over there and test himself against these other players.”

One of the other star performers this season for Real Madrid has been Vinicius Jr who has 12 goals and four assists in the league.

For McManaman, he has been impressed with the way Vinicius has stepped up and added more output to his game.

“With Karim [Benzema] gone he’s really taken on the role as one of the leaders,” McManaman said. “A lot of the younger players have but Vini in particular because of his experience, he’s been at Madrid now a number of years, even though he’s still only young.

“What separates him, especially this season, is his ability to score goals, to assist at times, he’s really taken on the mantle to be one of the star men and he’s been absolutely excellent.”

He also thinks that Vinicius has become more unpredictable, being willing to go both inside and outside when facing up to a defender which in turn has created more space for him to run into.

“I just think his ability to carry the ball, he’s quick, his body movements are excellent, you can go right, you can go left, he’s not just one dimensional,” McManaman said. “Of course, he wants to chop inside because if he’s on the left, he wants to get inside the pitch to get closer to the goal.

“But he also knows that he has to go round the defence and go on the outside so you always have the defender on the back foot because of that unpredictability combined with his pace. And the fact that he’s dropping his shoulders left and right the defender has got to defend and they’re thinking, ‘what way is he going to go?’

“He doesn’t go one way, which then as a defender I know I can get him. When he’s quick and when he does come inside his control is good that the ball sticks to him wherever he goes so if the defender isn’t able to nick away the ball, there’s a good chance he’ll make the mistake and give away a penalty or allow a cross or shot at goal.”