Why Wayne Rooney Is Backing Jude Bellingham to Win the 2024 Ballon d’Or

• Wayne Rooney has tipped Jude Bellingham to win the Ballon d’Or
• Rooney has praised Bellingham’s start to the season for Real Madrid
• Bellingham has scored 15 goals in 16 appearances for the La Liga club

Wayne Rooney is excited about Jude Bellingham’s awesome start to life at Real Madrid and has tipped the England midfielder to take over from Lionel Messi in terms of winning the Ballon d’Or.

The 20-year-old midfielder has dominated the charts in Spain since his summer transfer to Los Blancos, earning the Player of the Month award at the Spanish club for August, September and October respectively.

According to GOAL, Rooney has named Bellingham as one of the favourites for the 2024 Ballon d’Or if the Real Madrid star remains consistent with his current form for club and country.

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"If he keeps doing what he’s doing then why not? Again, we've gone through that cycle of Messi and Ronaldo where they’ve dominated that.

“I'm sure there will be five or six players fighting to try and win the next one. I'm sure if he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll be right up there.”

Bellingham has scored 15 goals in his first 16 appearances for Real Madrid this season and has played an instrumental role in taking Carlo Ancelotti’s men to the top of the La Liga table.

How Rooney influenced Bellingham’s career

Meanwhile, Jude Bellingham named Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney as the player who had the biggest influence on his career while growing up as a young footballer in England, Daily Post NG reports.

Rooney is regarded as one of the greatest players to come out of England following his numerous achievements with the Red Devils, which included winning five Premier League titles and one UEFA Champions League trophy.

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Bellingham acknowledged the influence Rooney had on him while giving his speech after being crowned the Golden Boy winner for 2023.

Bellingham breaks Mbappe’s impressive record

Earlier, Sports Brief reported Jude Bellingham convincingly won the 2023 Golden Boy award, beating close competitors like Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala, RB Leipzig's Xavi Simons and Benfica's Antonio Silva.

The Real Madrid star took home the award with 97% of the vote, equalling Kylian Mbappe's record for the highest percentage of the votes received.

Bellingham got 97% of the vote, but more people voted for him compared to Mbappe. The report claims of the 50 journalists who voted, 45 voted for Bellingham as the winner.