Barcelona legend and 1994 Ballon d’Or winner Hristo Stoichkov has insisted that Jude Bellingham didn’t deserve 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 Real Madrid throughout the summer time switch window after spending three seasons with Borussia Dortmund, and has since taken his sport to the following degree. Bellingham has scored an unbelievable 13 objectives in 14 appearances for the 14-time Champions League winners, main his group to essential victories each domestically and in Europe.
Despite Bellingham’s achievements, former Barcelona star Stoichkov informed 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 value. He’s one of the strongest talents in the world: he’s got a lot of class and a lot of brains,” the Bulgarian said.
“For me, he’s a mixture of Michael Laudrup, Kaka and Paul Pogba. The future is his. The next Ballon d’Or will be played with him, Mbappe and Haaland, but I’d like to know what he won in 2023 between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. Nothing…
“Given that Gavi, the reigning winner, was not eligible under the regulations I would have given it to [Jamal] Musiala or [Alejandro] Balde – who won La Liga and the Spanish Super 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 a substitute watched his group come up quick to Bayern Munich.
Thanks to Madrid’s spectacular begin to the season in each La Liga and the Champions League, Bellingham can 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.
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