A large part of the last days Laliga was discussed with the subject of Real Madrid Jude Bellingham And how to interpret and punish, his swears that led to a red card during the 1-1 draw on Saturday in Osasuna. But there is not much consideration in the way Manchester City manager, Manchester manager Pep Guardiola, had to oath to the brilliant English in the past two years. By turning the blue air sky, you could say.
City and Madrid meet again Wednesday in a direct elimination match of the Champions League, with Madrid with them with them in Bernabéu. Guardiola always curses that Bellingham, who marked the late winner of Madrid at Etihad last week, will be dressed in whites rather than colors in the city, as well as his explicit intention.
In January 2023, I was in a meeting in London with someone who is inaccessibly close to the legendary and record of the city. I was informed of the 100% authority that City had only two major transfer objectives this summer: one being RB Leipzig Defender If gvviool; The other was the midfielder of Borussia Dortmund Bellingham.
The defender of Croatia joined and, through three times City, has played Madrid since, he shone with a goal and a decisive pass. But Bellingham refused the reigning English and European champions, opted for the chance to work for one of the great football coaches of all time in Guardiola (a chance that he will never have) and chose a Notoriously demanding political club where the two where language and culture were completely new in this fiercely talented and ambitious prodigy.
The closest to Bellingham came to confirm that City made him an attractive offer came when he said: “Guided by my family, I spoke to many clubs in my last season in Dortmund … but When Madrid called, I didn’t have to think twice. “
Although there is still a range for City and their slightly besieged guru to break and even balance Wednesday, it was a very good choice for Bellingham when you compare his fortune to those of Guardiola & Co. Madrid the Coach Carlo Ancelotti, and of his English the n ° 5, simultaneously prevailing the Spanish and European champions only for the third time since 1958, while City has not only seen its status of Champions League decrease this season, but also their English domination .
The moment when Bellingham chose Madrid above the city has become a significant inclination in the balance of powers. But not only on the ground either.
I am guided by the same source inaccessible to Manchester City as their work by trying to convince the best footballers, especially if they are already at their peak, to come and live in the city of Manchester with its punitive climate and how far is other European capitals, it is extremely difficult. They are exceptional in what they offer, how they offer it and in terms of superb promising treatment. But the “additional” element 1, beyond the salary, was Guardiola himself.
The attraction of working under him and successfully mastering the football brand with which he became a partner in the Premier League turned out to be extremely attractive again and again. But not in Bellingham.
There was an idea of his justification after scoring his first goal in the Champions League for WhitesIn additional time, in a 1-0 victory against Union Berlin at the start of last season. That night, I questioned him the meaning of the moment and he told me that he was lucky to have a television in his room from the age of about 12 or 13 years and that He had “watched Madrid come back to gain in incredible circumstances over and over again.” It was moments like that that the young person had turned his back on the champions of England and had opted for legend, history, tradition and l ‘Attraction of another type of glory instead.
It is not either, the first time, the first time that Madrid has stripped the city of Manchester of a talent which they wanted massively. The best other example, since Cristiano Ronaldo had already played Old Trafford before making his record the world then in the Bernabéu, came in the form of Gareth Bale.
Unlike Bellingham, still a young prodigy when he signed for the Ancelotti team, the winger of Wales was a star established and desired by the majority of the best clubs in the world when he left Tottenham Hotspur. Manchester United still had Ryan Giggs on his training staff at the time and he had a personal phone call to his international teammate, promising that United would pay the same spurs the same transfer costs and would not even put higher wages that Madrid – But the words the answer was still no.
Bale and Bellingham actively chose Madrid – something Ronaldo has done in his last year when, although United and Madrid agreed, Sir Alex Ferguson demanded that the Captain of Portugal remains for one more season.
It was then that the vice-president of the time of Barcelona, Ferran Soriano, now established for a long time as Director of Géant de City, goes directly to Ronaldo and his agent to offer them a better salary if they I was throwing Madrid and came to Barcelona at the end of the end of the season instead. Like Bale and Bellingham, Ronaldo refused it because his irrevocable choice was to play for Real Madrid.
No one can really claim that it is specifically because Madrid has won as many Laliga or Copa del Rey titles as, if wage concerns are equal, many elite stars of the world will choose Real Madrid almost elsewhere. It is because of the glamor and the irresistible glory attached to the design and again to the spotlight on Tuesday and Wednesday evening until Europe kneels and another glorious final of the Champions League.
Anyone young enough to play professional football has never seen Madrid lose a European final. In fact, there are a multitude of fans and journalists who have never seen this either – the last time was 42 years ago. Now Bellingham is fortunate to emphasize more, for himself and for anyone interested, that he has chosen to select his current employer rather than Manchester City for the next stage of his career.
There are only two sides against which he played more regularly than Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Union Berlin, and it was only last week that he really knew what was the taste of victory against Manchester’s Sky Blues. He played and marked against them at the age of 17 while he was trying six times to take them into account, but failed, with his colleagues from Borussia Dortmund. Last season, while his penalty converted into the shooting helped put Whites In the semi-finals of the Champions League, it was technically another draw (after 90 then 120 minutes) to go with his three defeats and two previous draws.
This Wednesday, he runs to the Guardiola team with his last -minute goal the difference in tie, with the row on this controversial red card on and with all the Bernabéu who hurt to sing “Hey Jude” once more. It’s time for Bellingham to deliver again. I swear.
