Jude Bellingham: “I have always shown that I can handle pressure”

Jude Bellingham is enjoying his final few weeks of vacation before suiting up for Real Madrid in preseason. In a new interview with MARCA, the 20-year-old revealed his thoughts on withstanding the pressure at Real Madrid, what he wants to achieve, a message from Beckham, and his new tool for learning Spanish:

Coping with pressure at Real Madrid: “Pressure has followed me everywhere. At the age of 15 and 16 I started playing for Birmingham and I felt that this pressure was incomparable, but the pressure has been increasing at every step . Until now I have always shown that I can handle the pressure and if it affected me for that reason, I surely would not have come to Madrid”.

Aspirations with his new club: “The size of Madrid is surreal, but when you think about the project they are forming, that was really important for me to take that step because it is the right place for me. It is the opportunity to be part of this story. I come here to win because that’s what they signed me for. I want to be at a club that aspires to win titles and I want to help it continue to be as big as it has been this time”.

Messages from colleagues and former Real Madrid players: “David Beckham sent me a brief message to wish me the best. You hear a lot of things and get a lot of advice from different people, I am quite good at filtering the good from the bad, so far it has been really positive from the former players. I will try to take into account all the advice and messages received and at some point I will contact them to see how they have adapted to life in Spain”.

Learning Spanish: “I have an app I am using on my phone. It’s been nine days since I started taking it seriously. It’s one of those things that you hear and you start picking up little things, and you see it on TV with interviews with other players, so it comes a little more naturally to you than you think. It is much easier than trying to learn German. I studied Spanish at school until the ninth year and, in retrospect, I would have continued studying it”.