Jude Bellingham applied for non-British passport to get around strict transfer rule before signing for Real Madrid

Jude Bellingham reportedly applied for a non-UK passport to bypass a strict La Liga rule upon signing for Real Madrid.

The England midfielder signed for Real for an initial fee of over €103 million last summer.

He scored 23 goals in all competitions in his debut campaign, and won La Liga and the Champions League.

The 21-year-old has missed the start of this campaign, and England's Nations League matches, through a rare muscle injury.

His absence meant he was unavailable to represent the Three Lions against Republic of Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

And he has a connection to Ireland that fans may not know about.

He qualified to play for Ireland through his paternal grandmother, although the Birmingham-born midfielder decided to play for the country of his birth instead.

But he did use his Irish heritage upon signing for Real last summer.

La Liga matchday squads are only allowed to contain three non-EU players, out of a total of five in the first team squad.

British players now count as non-EU due to the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, which officially came into force in February 2020.

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While Bellingham's situation wasn't exactly a major issue for Los Blancos - they had all three non-EU slots available at the time - the midfielder was able to use a loophole to ensure that Real could sign non-EU players if they so desired without him filling a spot.

Therefore, as per The Athletic, the Spanish giants asked Bellingham to apply for an Irish passport - which he was successfully granted.

He is not the only player to 'exploit' the loophole, with Atletico Madrid midfielder Conor Gallagher - who also has Irish heritage - doing likewise when he arrived in Spain from Chelsea last summer.