The Jude Bellingham brand

**Matt Lines** (0:02)
Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Matt Lines, and with the Football World Cup taking place, a star has emerged through the tournament, England's Jude Bellingham. Two years ago, during the Euros, I looked into how much his star could rise and just how much his brand could be worth. So the numbers you'll hear mentioned are accurate up to July 2024 Take a listen.
Those were the scenes at the Green Duck Brewery here in Stourbridge near Birmingham, as Jude Bellingham opened the scoring in England's first game of the Euros this summer. Now that's just a short walk from where I'm stood now, opposite a giant mural to the footballer who was born and raised right here. In front of me, I can see Jude painted, looking out in his England kit, surrounded by images from his career, from playing football as a boy to holding up a jersey with his number 22 on it.
So what do people here make of how he's done?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:02)
You look at players, you feed their quality.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:04)
That is weird thinking, oh, are they just from around here, aren't they? I don't know how to word it, to be honest with you, but I would say I'm very proud of him.
I have mates that know him and used to play like ex-hosts and that of him during COVID. Just weird thinking about it, but yeah, he was. He always seems so polite. He's a lovely fella, really. He does know how to know he's from Manila, so like I say, McGuery's playing at what he's doing. So I mean, the kid's got talent, and I think he's good for the area. The more he progresses, the more he's going to look even better for the area. So just wish him all the best and I hope he carries on and I hope he gets the nurturing he should have. You know, it's always good to see Starbridge get mentioned on the TV and things like that. So yeah, I think it's good. It's quite inspiring for young kids and stuff who are going to hopefully see his name and try and live up to those kind of like, you know, it probably just shows that you can make it, doesn't matter where you're from, if you're from a small town and that. So yeah, it's quite a positive thing. Obviously very jealous I didn't make it myself, but you know, but yeah, I think it's a great thing for us to have.

**Matt Lines** (2:06)
Jude played his first professional game at his Boyhood Club and for disclosure, the team I support, Birmingham City at the age of just 16 We all knew he could be something very special even at the age and it's gone very well since then.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:20)
Well, today we heard another young English player has signed for Borussia Dortmund. 17-year-old Jude Bellingham will join the German giants at the end of the season.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:29)
Elsewhere, young English superstar Jude Bellingham scored and made a goal as Borussia Dortmund beat Sevilla 4-1.

**SPEAKER_5** (2:35)
Jude Bellingham is now a Real Madrid player. The 19-year-old has agreed a six-year deal for 88 million pounds.

**SPEAKER_3** (2:45)
Jude Bellingham continues to impress in La Liga, and what a stage to score an injury time winner in the first El Clasico of the season. 13 goals in 13 games now for Bellingham with Real Madrid. Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham has been voted La Liga's player of the season in just his first year in Spain.

**Mina Riziki** (3:02)
Honestly, I don't think it could have gone any better.

**Matt Lines** (3:05)
Mina Riziki, European football journalist.

**Mina Riziki** (3:07)
What it really is, is authenticity. And I think that's what makes Bellingham so special. He arrives, they ask him about, you know, all the British players that came before him, and he managed to list all of them. It's almost like he had come in and prepared for the press conferences, prepared for the interviews. And that was seen as a huge thing. Like, look how much he knows about the history of Real Madrid. He looked like a man who had come in that was determined to learn, that was determined to be part of this club, that was so grateful for the opportunity, as opposed to coming in and saying, well, listen, I'm Jude Bellingham. He didn't have any of that.
That's what's so nice about him. That, and for Spain, and I think for continental Europe, is how often he speaks about his parents. It's something that is so lovely to see in this new generation. There isn't a moment in which he doesn't refer to his mother as the queen and talks about how his father was his first hero watching him play.