Carlo Ancelotti insists Jude Bellingham is 'not perfect' and identifies the area he must improve

Carlo Ancelotti has identified the area in Jude Bellingham's game that could be improved following his outstanding start to life at Real Madrid.

Bellingham, who joined Los Blancos from Borussia Dortmund in the summer for a reported £88 million plus add ons, netted his 15th goal of the season on Wednesday night against Napoli.

The 20-year-old midfielder would later pick up his third Champions League Player of the Match award this season following another masterclass at the Bernabeu.

It's only November and Bellingham has already scored more goals than he did in the entirety of last season.

But after the final whistle, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti gave the England international something to work on as he continues to settle in the Spanish capital.

The Italian said: "Bellingham is a young, serious professional. He's adapted well to the dressing room. He has to improve his Spanish. As I've said many times, nobody is perfect!"

As well as giving him something to improve on, Ancelotti would throw plenty of compliments at Bellingham, who also provided an assist on Wednesday.

When asked about comparisons with Zinedine Zidane, he said: "It's difficult to compare two different generations.

"What I see is [Bellingham's] ability to get into the box. Zidane didn't have that. And the individual quality which Zidane had, Bellingham doesn't have.

"But that's modern football. Modern football requires physical players like Bellingham, who can cover a lot of the pitch quickly."

Image credit: Getty

Ancelotti added: "It looked like he was very tired in the middle of the second half. He took 10 minutes to recover and then in the last 15 minutes he made the difference to help us win. It's surprising. I don't think anybody could have imagined his adaptation to this style of football, to this club.

"He surprises every day, in every game. Not just us, he's surprising everybody. [Bellingham] is a gift for football. His coach and his teammates are delighted with him, and the fans are delighted with him, but everybody is delighted to see a player with this potential and this positive image."

Thoughts on Bellingham's start to life in Madrid? Is he the best midfield in world football right now?

Let us know in the comments.

Topics: Carlo Ancelotti, Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid, La Liga, England

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

@jackkenmare_