Jude Bellingham's debut season is on course to be one of the greatest ever

This century Real Madrid have broken the bank for a Brit once every ten years – Beckham in 2003, Bale in 2013, and Bellingham in 2023.

The first two had good debut campaigns, Bale especially, but what Jude Bellingham is achieving in his first year in Spain is little short of extraordinary.

With the Champions League still to be concluded his debut season is on course, not just to go down as 'best of British', but one of the greatest ever.

The comparisons with David Beckham and Gareth Bale help illustrate the point. Beckham scored three league goals in his first season, and one in the Champions League. Played out of position in central midfield he won over team-mates and supporters but won nothing, and his coach Carlos Quieroz was sacked after the last game.

Bale, 10 years later, topped that by some distance. He ran half the length of the pitch five minutes from time in the Spanish Cup final to score the winner against Barcelona. He also scored in an epic 4-1 Champions League final extra-time win over Atletico Madrid. He got 15 league goals, six in the Champions league – 22 in total. But Madrid did not win the league, finishing third behind Barcelona and champions Atletico Madrid.

Fast-forward another decade and Bellingham is ripping up the record books. He has scored 21 goals in all competitions – one short of Bale’s tally with six league games and possibly three Champions League games still to play.

He has won both league Clasicos with late goals, his first in the win away at Barcelona earlier in the season remains a goal of the season candidate. Only Girona striker Artem Dovbyk can stop him finishing the campaign as the league’s top scorer and he could be crowned Spanish Champion as early as the first week in May.

And it is