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Jude Bellingham, who is close to a summer move to Real Madrid, reportedly had dreams of representing Barcelona during his school years. An image posted by Reshad Rahman, which shows that as a school kid Bellingham wanted to represent England and Barca, has elicited a hilarious response from football fans on Twitter.
With a seemingly insatiable hunger for trophies, Real Madrid, licking their wounds after an unceremonious exit from the Champions League, are eager to bolster their ranks. The Spanish giants have pinned their hopes on the youthful exuberance and deft footwork of 19-year-old Bellingham to rekindle their fighting spirit.
Their pursuit of Bellingham, however, has taken a humorous turn with the revelation of the player's childhood fondness for their fiercest rivals, Barcelona.
As the surprising news about Bellingham's boyhood aspiration surfaced online, it generated a wave of hilarious reactions from football fans around the globe. Here is a selection of their tweets:
While the Los Blancos board is planning to negotiate a deal worth over €120 million with Dortmund, the Barca faithful have seized on the chance to poke fun at their rivals.
According to Metro, Real Madrid are pulling out all the stops, reportedly offering the English phenom a tempting five-year deal in an effort to coax him to the Spanish capital. They want to complete the deal and parade Bellingham before their supporters by June 1, eager to make him their latest 'galactico' signing.
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez refuses to compare club to Real Madrid
Barcelona's jubilant celebration of their La Liga title win was still resonating within the walls of Camp Nou, even as Real Madrid were still reeling from their early Champions League exit. However, in a classy show of sportsmanship, Barca's Xavi refrained from drawing direct comparisons between the two footballing giants' contrasting fortunes.
A 4-2 win over Espanyol last weekend secured Barcelona's first league title since 2019. The Madrid club's dreams were shattered by a 5-1 aggregate defeat against Manchester City, ending their journey in the Champions League, a competition they've dominated in recent years.
Xavi, however, remained focused on his team's accomplishments rather than basking in the misfortunes of their arch-rivals. According to Xavi, comparisons should be drawn with the club's own expectations rather than other clubs. He asserted (via MARCA):
"Write it down if you want to. Write it yourself. We have had a great season. This is our yardstick. Where we were and where we are. I would give the team a 'B'. We haven't fulfilled all the expectations."
