Rio Ferdinand has praised Jude Bellingham for his “ridiculous” achievements at Real Madrid in his first season in Spain.
Bellingham made the move from Borussia Dortmund last summer and manager Carlo Ancelotti has been handsomely rewarded by playing the England international higher up the pitch than he was used to.
The midfielder has 23 goals to his name and has already won La Liga with his new side, and on Saturday he could also lift the UEFA Champions League trophy.
Madrid play Dortmund at Wembley Stadium as they look to add to their record 14 titles already won in Europe’s most prestigious club competition.
Speaking at Wembley to TNT Sports, former Manchester United defender Ferdinand asserted that Bellingham’s achievements were unprecedented for a player so young.
He said: “Jude’s over there somewhere, what he’s doing is something wild. I’ve spoken to a lot of former players, played for Real Madrid. Roberto Carlos, [Zinedine] Zidane and those guys, and they don’t even remember a player coming in and having the impact he’s had in the first season, at his age.
“No one’s done this. He’s doing stuff that’s not been done before, scoring a ridiculous amount of goals in the Clasico, etcetera. Impacting games, impacting the squad. Taking the responsibility in the squad as he has, at that age, is just something we’ve never seen.”
Ferdinand considered that some of the best midfielders of his career could not match his achievements so early on in his career.
“His mindset, his mentality we marvel at,” he continued. “His ability we all see but I think it’s the mindset, and the maturity he shows. This is different, You talk about midfielders with England. We’ve been blessed with some great midfielders.
“Stevie [Gerrard], [Paul] Scholes, Frank [Lampard] we talk about these guys but none of these guys have done what Jude is doing at this age.”
Again speaking to TNT, Ferdinand also thought that Bellingham and his Madrid team-mate Vinicius Jr. would be in the running for the Ballon d’Or if they succeeded.
He explained: “I think if you win the Champions League you put yourself in a great position. I think Vinicius is just shading it, I think his finish to the end of the season has been strongest.
“Goals in the big moments, but the Euro and Copa America is going to have a big part to play in the Ballon d’Or voting as well.”
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