Bellingham Voted La Liga Player Of The Year

Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham has been voted La Liga’s Player of the Season in his first year in Spain.

Bellingham, 20, scored 19 times in the league to help Real win the title by 10 points. The Stourbridge-born player also scored four times in the Champions League as Carlo Ancelotti’s side reached the final, where they will meet Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Saturday (20:00 BST).

Bellingham edged out team-mate Vinicius Jr, Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid), Artem Dovbyk (Girona) and Robert Lewandowski (Barcelona) in votes cast by fans, club captains and a panel of experts.

He also won the 2022-23 Bundesliga Player of the Season playing for Dortmund before moving to Real for an initial 103m euros (£88.5m).

“I would like to dedicate it to my team-mates, the coaching staff and, most importantly, to the fans of the best club in the world,” Bellingham, who was unable to attend Tuesday’s ceremony as he is getting ready for Saturday’s final, said in a message.

“It’s a pleasure every time I play for this team. Hala Madrid.” Bellingham has 29 England caps and three goals for his country.

He is expected to play a key role for Gareth Southgate’s team at Euro 2024 in Germany, which starts on 14 June. England’s first game is against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on 16 June.