Bellingham Should Focus On Football, Not Ads – Danny Mills

Real Madrid midfielder, Jude Bellingham should cut down on the advertisements he features in, Danny Mills has said. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, even if featuring in ads is not a bad thing for any footballer, Bellingham needs to reduce his off–field distractions and focus on constantly improving his performances on the pitch.

Danny added that the media are hyping him up to be a Ballon d’Or contender already, but he still a long way to go.

His words, “It’s not a bad thing. He obviously has supreme confidence and self belief, which you need to get to that level – especially at his age, and what he’s done is magnificent. You do have to be careful not to overstep that line at times. You can do anything you like if you are putting in the performances. I know he scored an amazing overhead kick [at Euro 2024]. Actually, I thought the first goal that he scored in the tournament [against Serbia] was a better goal. The overhead kick is a freak goal, it’s something that happens once in a blue moon. The header that he scores is brave, he’s determined, his desire to get across the defender to get that in the back of the net, that’s a proper midfielder running from deep. That’s what Steven Gerrard used to do, knocking the defender out of the way.

I think you have to be careful. By all accounts he is a very grounded lad, but the media have hyped him up to be a Ballon d’Or winner and be magnificent. He has still got improvements to make in his game. Is he as technically good as Phil Foden? Not quite. Foden is technically a better footballer than him at the moment. He has other attributes – his strength, his power, his desire, his ability to get in the box and score goals. He is a very young man, he still has a lot of room for improvement. He just needs to make sure that football comes first. All the adverts and all the sponsorship deals will come as secondary. First and foremost, be a great footballer. Just concentrate on that and worry about everything else afterwards. If not, it will be thrown at him. Ronaldo had it, Messi has had it at times. If you are a top player and you are courting the media and the press and the advertisements, you have to perform.”

WOW.

Jude Victor William Bellingham (born 29 June 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and the England national team.

Bellingham joined Birmingham City as an under-8, became the club’s youngest ever first-team player when he made his senior debut in August 2019, at the age of 16 years, 38 days, and played regularly during the 2019–20 season. He joined Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, and in his first appearance became their youngest ever goalscorer. Over three seasons with the club he made 132 appearances, was a member of their 2020–21 DFB-Pokal-winning team, and helped them finish as runners-up in the 2022–23 Bundesliga. He signed for Real Madrid in June 2023.

Jude Victor William Bellingham was born on 29 June 2003 in Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, the eldest son of Denise and Mark Bellingham. His father Mark was, until 2022, a sergeant in the West Midlands Police, and a prolific goalscorer in non-League football.

Bellingham’s younger brother, Jobe, is also a footballer. Bellingham attended Priory School in Edgbaston, Birmingham.