If anyone is surprised Jude Bellingham seems likely to choose Real Madrid over the Premier League, they were obviously not paying attention in the summer of 2020.
Bellingham could have had his pick of English clubs at that time, having been famously courted by Manchester United. For his development, the teenager decided Borussia Dortmund and the Bundesliga were the best places for his development.
Now, it looks like the 19-year-old believes the Bernabeu and LaLiga are the best places for the next stage of his development. The money will be decent, of course, but even if it is not far off £300,000 a week, there are Premier League clubs who would match the numbers.
So perhaps - unthinkable as it seems to the Premier League’s legion of cheerleading pundits - Bellingham considers the Spanish game to be a more attractive place to grow as a player.
It is an idea that makes so many blinkered observers of our league reel with incredulity. How can you prefer a league that is so predictable, they say as Manchester City prepare to win a fifth Premier league title in six seasons?
How can you prefer a competition that has so little strength in depth compared to the Premier League? That’s an interesting one. It did not say a massive amount about the Premier League’s strength in depth when Sevilla, currently 11th in La Liga, knocked Manchester United out of the Europa League.
The Europa League is a type of barometer for domestic strength in depth and since 2013-14, Spain have had 11 semi-finalists and six winners. England have had nine semi-finalists and two winners.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Has Jude Bellingham made the right choice by joining Real Madrid? Comment below.
If the Europa League is a barometer of strength in depth, the Champions League is a reflection of elite excellence and since 2013-14, Spain have had 14 semi-finalists and six winners.
England have had ten semi-finalists and two winners. Let’s be really honest here, most of us do not see enough of other nations’ domestic leagues to make a truly informed judgement about their standards.
What we do KNOW is that the Premier League is by far the richest league in the world and is, by far, the most watched, the most commercially attractive, the most envied by boardrooms across the club football world.
By all those measures, it is a phenomenal success. But that is not to mean there is no equally compelling and skilful football being played in the big wide world.
Perhaps Bellingham looks at La Liga and thinks it is of a greater technical level than the Premier League. One thing is for sure, he will look at the Real Madrid squad and believe he can flourish.
He can flourish by learning from the likes of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric (should they stay) and he can flourish by operating alongside the talent embodied by young players such as Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde (although none as young as Jude).
While he is well-equipped to deal with it, perhaps the blood and thunder of the Premier League is not part of his development plan at this moment. And considering how his move to Dortmund has turned out, who can doubt him.
Yes, it will be a shame if we don’t see Bellingham in the Premier League any time soon. But in the interests of the player himself - and that’s what counts, of course - this could be the perfect move.
