Barcelona Legend Questions What Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham Did to Deserve Golden Boy Award

• Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham was named as the Golden Boy winner for 2023
• Hristo Stoichkov doesn't believe that Bellingham deserved to win this year's award
• Bellingham was named as the Kopa Trophy winner at the Ballon d'Or ceremony

Was Jude Bellingham’s Golden Boy win deserved?

A former Barcelona forward doesn’t think so.

Blaugrana legend Hristo Stoichkov has shared his thoughts about the Real Madrid star’s win, and he didn’t hold back.

As reported by Madrid Universal, Stoichkov argued that the former Borussia Dortmund captain did nothing to deserve the award.

“Since Gavi was not eligible by regulation, the award should have been given to Jamal Musiala or Alejandro Balde,” he said.

Stoichkov did praise Bellingham’s talent

While he didn’t think Bellingham deserved the award, the former Barcelona star did praise his talent.

Golden boy award winners: A list of all the past winners

Football

He admitted that the player had a lot of class and a lot of brains but that he didn’t win anything in 2023.

He argued that Musiala scored a crucial goal which gave his side the Bundesliga title, while Bellingham didn’t do anything significant.

Bellingham fell short in the Bundesliga

The English youngster may have hit the ground running at Madrid but didn’t have the best send-off from Dortmund. The German side lost the Bundesliga title on the last day of the season to Bayern Munich, with Bellingham unable to compete in the final game due to an injury.

His performance for Dortmund, England and Madrid in 2023 did net him the Kopa Trophy and the Golden Boy Award.

As noted by TalkSport, he will only receive the award on December 4 at the official awards ceremony.

Exciting news! We have a WhatsApp channel 🤩

➡️ Click to join our channel for all your favourite sports news.

Real Madrid legend Raul hails Jude Bellingham as special talent after great start

Football

Bellingham wins Kopa Trophy

Sports Brief also previously reported on Bellingham claiming the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d'Or Awards gala event on Monday (October 30).

This prestigious accolade - reserved for the most outstanding footballer under the age of 21 - was presented to the Englishman at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris.

Bellingham's triumph signifies his status as the best-performing young player, outshining Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala and Barcelona's Alejandro Balde to win.