“What success have all these goals brought to Real Madrid?” - Barcelona legend slams decision to name Jude Bellingham as 2023 Golden Boy
Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov doesn't think Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham was the worthy winner of the 2023 Golden Boy award. The accolade is given to the best under-21 player in European football, with the English midfielder winning it just last week.
Stoichkov, however, is of the opinion that there were other better players, who deserved the award more than Bellingham. He said (via Tribal Football):
"I don't dispute Bellingham's value, he is one of the strongest talents in the world: he has a lot of class and a lot of brains. For me he is a mix between (Michael) Laudrup, Kaká and the first (Paul) Pogba.
"The future is his. He will fight with (Kylian) Mbappé and (Erling) Haaland for the next Ballon d'Or, but I would like to know what he's won in 2023 between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid? Nothing..."
He pointed out that the Englishman was yet to win anything with Real Madrid despite starting the season in fantastic fashion. He also recalled Borussia Dortmund's failure to win the Bundesliga last season, adding:
"What success have all these goals brought to Real Madrid? You know well what my friend (Jose) Mourinho would say about 'titles'... Shall we talk then about how the last Bundesliga ended? Borussia Dortmund had a two-point lead over Bayern with 90 minutes left in the championship.
"They were playing at home against Mainz, while the Bavarians were in Cologne. What happened with 5 minutes left? (Thomas) Tuchel introduced (Jamal) Musiala, who in the final stretch scored 3-2 for Bayern while Borussia did not go beyond a 2-2 draw at home and goodbye to the title due to goal difference..."
Stoickhov went on to name Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala and Barcelona's Alejandro Balde as the two players who deserved the award more than Bellingham.
"Since Gavi was not eligible by regulation, I would have rewarded Musiala (Bayern) or Balde (Alejandro, Barcelona)."
Notably, the 20-year-old former Dortmund midfielder was named the under-21 player of the year at the Ballon d'Or ceremony earlier this year as well.
How Jude Bellingham has fared at Real Madrid so far
Jude Bellingham completed a €103 million move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund this summer. He has hit the ground running at Santiago Bernabeu and has arguably been their best player so far this term.
The midfielder has scored 13 and assisted three goals in just 14 appearances for Los Blancos across competitions so far. This is already more than half the goals he scored at Dortmund, where he had 24 strikes and 25 assists in 132 games.
He is next expected to be in action for the Spanish giants when they face Cadiz away on Sunday, November 26, in La Liga.