Bellingham’s brilliant Real Madrid debut: The wink, warm-up, goal and celebration

As the Real Madrid coaching staff, led by Carlo Ancelotti, descended from the bus with serious and nervous faces, a young, radiant figure completely changed the atmosphere of the visiting team as soon as he appeared.

It was Jude Bellingham.

Madrid’s most expensive signing this summer — he cost €100million (£86m; $107m) — did not look fazed before his competitive debut and winked at the camera as he made his way into the tunnel of the San Mames stadium in Bilbao.

The anticipation was high. Bellingham was the big draw for Madrid’s first La Liga match of the new season and — despite the doubts about the fee, him being 20 years of age and even the black strapping on his right knee — he did not disappoint.

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Bellingham was man of the match in a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao.

Madrid’s opening goal was scored by Rodrygo, but the decisive second came courtesy of a Bellingham volley.

“Bellingham, Bellingham,” shouted the Basque children in the crowd when they saw him appear on the pitch to warm up. And it was at this precise moment that saw manager Ancelotti provide the first clue of what he wanted from his player: Bellingham warmed up in orange overalls — the ones usually worn by Madrid’s attacking players.

As kick-off neared, the man in the Madrid No 5 shirt practised shots on goal, on this occasion being defended by Andriy Lunin due to the long-term knee injury suffered last week by first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Bellingham looked confident, his sights zeroed in.

When it was his turn to practise his long-range passes, Bellingham turned to left-back Fran Garcia, whom he calls his “little brother”, as posted on his Instagram, even though the former Rayo Vallecano player is three years his senior.

But Bellingham’s