Let's turn the clock back a year. Jude Bellingham was playing like an absolute superstar for Real Madrid after arriving in the summer from Borussia Dortmund, breaking records that had previously been set by a certain Cristiano Ronaldo and was being tipped as a future Ballon d'Or winner. Now, fast forward to the present and the picture does not seem nearly as rosy.
Bellingham put in a disappointing performance as Real Madrid lost 4-0 to FC Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu. But this is not his only under-par display in recent times though.
Bellingham's numbers started dropping in the second half of last season. He was not great at the recent EUROs either, except for a magical bicycle kick that saved England against Slovakia.
The start to his 24/25 season has not been much to write home about. Bellingham has yet to score a goal for Real Madrid in the ongoing campaign after 11 appearances across all competitions so far. Just for comparison's sake, he had 10 at this point last year.
Jude Bellingham slammed after El Clasico for Real Madrid downfall
As reported by the Daily Star, Spanish paper Marca has called Bellingham out for "going from 10 to zero in a year". On the other hand, NBC Sports gave him a player rating of 4 for his performance against Barcelona.
To many, Bellingham's drop off in numbers might not have come as much of a surprise. After all, one cannot overlook the fact that Real Madrid have added Kylian Mbappe over the summer and undergone a change in system.
Bellingham was thriving in his previous free role, where he was often used as the main source of goals. Real Madrid now have both Mbappe and Vinicius Jr up front though. As a result, the Englishman's influence and importance in the final third has reduced significantly. Perhaps the drop in numbers has affected his confidence.