Real Madrid may well have splashed out a fair old sum of money when they bought England star Jude Bellingham - but you have to say it looks like it was well spent.
The Santiago Bernabeu club parted with an initial €103m for Bellingham to join from German side Borussia Dortmund, a transfer fee which could eventually rise to nearly €134m if various add-ons are met.
The 20-year-old burst onto the scene with boyhood club Birmingham City and played only one season at St Andrews before the Bundesliga club paid an initial £25m for his services back in 2020.
Three seasons at Signal Iduna Park followed and Bellingham scored 24 goals in 132 games, during which time he also made his debut for England and has gone on to become a key player for the Three Lions under Gareth Southgate.
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Real came coming over last summer for the midfielder and Bellingham has taken La Liga by storm.
He has scored 20 goals in 29 games in all competitions so far for Real, and his latest strikes came yesterday in La Liga for Los Blancos.
Real beat Girona 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu and Bellingham was on target twice for the hosts as they opened up a five point gap at the top of La Liga to their opponents.
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Vinicius Junior opened the scoring after six minutes, and Bellingham bagged a brace with goals either side of half-time, but had to go off injured not long after scoring his second goal, with Rodrygo scoring Real's fourth.
Carlo Ancelotti's side could have added a fifth but Joselu missed from the penalty spot as they still managed to record an emphatic victory.
Team-mate Vinicius was clear about his praise for Bellingham, telling Real Madrid TV: "Jude is a star.
"He scores a lot of goals and I hope he can keep going. Jude has been the best this season. We're doing things well and we're happy because we're a family."
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And in scoring twice last night, Bellingham became the first Real Madrid midfielder in the 21st century to score more than 15 goals in a single La Liga campaign.
Following the feat, a compilation has gone viral on social media of Bellingham's contribution in the victory over Girona.
Hopefully Bellingham will not be out of action too long and we can enjoy more of his remarkable talents.
Topics: Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham, England, La Liga
John McDougall