Taylor Swift fans start movement to help Jude Bellingham beat Alex Balde to Golden Boy award after Barcelona star makes confession
Barcelona left-back Alejandro Balde's confession that he doesn't like Taylor Swift's music hasn't gone down well with the singer's fans. They have reportedly started a movement to help Jude Bellingham beat the young Spaniard to the 2023 Golden Boy award.
Barca Universal claims that Swift's fans have created a social media movement to vote for Bellingham for the Golden Boy award. It comes after comments made by Balde regarding his dislike for the American songwriter's music.
Balde, 19, was asked about the 'Bad Blood' singer's music to which he responded (via Managing Barca):
"Do I like Taylor Swift? No, I don't like her music."
This has seemingly led to 'Swifties' swarming social media and voting for his Real Madrid rival Bellingham in the Golden Boy race.
Spanish journalist Martin Manin claims that Balde was leading the race in the fan vote with Bellingham sitting on 30k votes. However, the Los Blancos wonderkid's numbers skyrocketed in just seven minutes to 100k votes.
Swifties are renowned for their loyalty to the American popstar and it appears they are prepared to go to war against Balde in the Golden Boy voting. Swift is also set to perform at Madrid's refurbished Santiago Bernabeu next year making matters worse for the Barcelona youngster.
Balde enjoyed a superb past season, breaking into Xavi's first team, and has since made the left-back role his own. He played 44 times across competitions last season, scoring one goal and providing seven assists. He was part of a Barcelona side that won the La Liga title for the first time since 2019.
However, Bellingham, 20, is deservedly up for the Golden Boy award following a stellar campaign for Borussia Dortmund. He bagged 14 goals and seven assists in 42 games across competitions. He has already scored five goals and provided one assist in four games at the very start of his Madrid career.
Bellingham's father stopped the Real Madrid star from joining Barcelona years ago
Bellingham may have been on the opposite side of the El Clasico rivalry if Barcelona had their way four or five years ago. Former Barca scout Bojan Krkic has claimed that the Catalan giants were interested in signing the Madrid new boy before he joined Dortmund in 2020. He told Spanish outlet Que t'hi Jugues:
"I arranged to meet with Bellingham's father in London, who was part of the British secret police, but he never showed up. I know he did it to a lot of people."
Bojan went on to explain that Bellingham's father wasn't enthusiastic about the squad the Blaugrana had at the time. He also alluded to the fact they'd signed a youngster from one of Birmingham City's rivals:
"His excuse to us was that we had already signed another English youngster from Aston Villa or West Brom and he said: 'My son won't sign for Barcelona. He can't play with a side with such limited quality."
Bellingham instead joined BvB from Birmingham in 2020 for €30.1 million with the EFL Championship outfit retiring his number 22 shirt. Many questioned that decision given he was at such a young age and hadn't made his mark in the spot.
However, the England international has gone on to shine both at Signal Iduna Park and now at the Bernabeu. It's why he is one of the favorites to win the Golden Boy award. He became the youngest captain in Bundesliga history and the youngest skipper to score in the UEFA Champions League last season.