Which shirt number could Jude Bellingham wear at Real Madrid?

Bellingham’s choice of number may well present the England star with his first problem at Real Madrid: his preferred shirt is already taken.

Jude Bellingham, who is reportedly on the verge of signing for Real Madrid, may not get to wear his preferred shirt number if he joins Los Blancos.

Bellingham has worn No. 22 throughout his club career so far - a choice that goes back to his days in the Birmingham City youth academy. As things stand, however, that number is taken at Madrid: defender Antonio Rüdiger has worn it since he joined from Chelsea last summer.

Bellingham a 4, an 8 and a 10 rolled into one

Bellingham prefers No. 22 because it represents his ability to operate in a number of midfield roles. Speaking to UK radio station TalkSPORT in 2021, Birmingham head of youth Mike Dodds explained: “He would have been about 13 or 14 and like most boys that age, they want to be a number 10. And I remember, we sat down with him and we said, ‘We think you’re doing yourself a disservice, we think you can do all of it. So we came up with, ‘We think you can be a 22.’

“His eyes lit up and we knew had hooked him from then on in! We said we thought he could be a holding midfielder, or a four. We thought he could be a box-to-box [midfielder], which is an eight, and we thought he could be a scorer and a creator, so a 10. And from the age of 13 onwards he has held on to that all the way through and you can see that in his game.”

After Bellingham left Birmingham for Borussia Dortmund in 2020, the Blues retired his No. 22 shirt. The England star has also sported the number in each of his 132 appearances for Dortmund in the last three years.

Rüdiger swap in the offing?

Could Rüdiger be persuaded to hand the number over to Bellingham? That seems a feasible outcome; after all, the German had never previously worn the shirt before arriving at Madrid, so it doesn’t appear to hold any particular significance for him.

It’s also possible that other summer transfer business at the Bernabéu could lead Rüdiger to change numbers anyway. Centre-back Jesús Vallejo, the current incumbent of Madrid’s No. 5 jersey, looks to be a prime candidate to leave the club in the close season, having made just four appearances for Los Blancos this term. Long-serving defender Nacho Fernández, who wears No. 6, is also in the frame to depart, with Inter Milan reportedly keen to sign the 33-year-old.

Seventh heaven for Bellingham at the Bernabéu?

While Bellingham donned his trusty No. 22 for England at the World Cup in Qatar, he has played in a range of other numbers for the Three Lions, too - most frequently 8 and 10. At present, those two shirts are also occupied at Madrid, though: they’re in the hands of midfield stalwarts Toni Kroos and Luka Modric, respectively. Although Kroos and Modric are out of contract at the end of June, the indications are that they will both remain at the Bernabéu for another year at least.

Three ‘first XI’ numbers that are now up for grabs at Madrid are 7, 9 and 11. They’ve become available after it was confirmed that Eden Hazard, Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio won’t be at the club next season. Of that trio of numbers, 7 seems the likeliest possibility: Bellingham has played in the number once before for England, in a World Cup qualifying win over Andorra in September 2021.

Bargain-bucket options...

A rather less attractive number that’s also now free at Madrid is 24, which was worn by departing striker Mariano Díaz. Nos. 16 and 19, which belong to Álvaro Odriozola and Dani Ceballos, respectively, may also be available in the near future. Bellingham appears unlikely to be falling over himself to nab any of those, though.

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