As midfield rebuilds go, Real Madrid’s has been something of a masterclass.
For season after season, trophy after trophy, Casemiro, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric lined up in midfield, doing so in each of the four Champions League finals Real have won over the past eight years.
Planning for life after the reliable trio has been a measured process, Eduardo Camavinga arriving in 2021 and Aurelien Tchouameni bought last year, and Real have ensured the future is nothing to fear after confirming the signing of Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund.
The 19-year-old has put pen to paper on a six-year deal, with the fee potentially rising to £115million, to officially end any hopes Liverpool, or other Premier League clubs, had of bringing Bellingham back to England.
While Casemiro is now a Manchester United player, Kroos has signed a one-year contract extension to keep him in Madrid and Modric is expected to do likewise, giving Real such strength in depth in midfield that Federico Valverde has been linked with a move away this summer.
Whether that materialises remains to be seen, but it emphasises the options that Real have and the possibility that Bellingham is not immediately a guaranteed starter every week under Carlo Ancelotti, despite being the second-most expensive signing in the club’s history. Camavinga, for all his potential, spent portions of the season filling in at left-back.
Bellingham has the attributes to be a versatile star for Real, with his former youth team coach revealing that he has worn the number 22 shirt for club and country due to his ability to thrive in the number four, eight or ten roles in midfield.
He looks most comfortable as a box-to-box midfielder, driving forward from deep and offering the kind of threat in attack that saw him enjoy his best season in front of goal for Dortmund, scoring 14 times across all competitons.
Bellingham will likely play as one of the number eights in a three-man midfield, competing with Valverde and Modric, with his dynamic style not necessarily suited to the deeper role occupied by Kroos or Tchouameni, where control is the priority.
Real have enough quality in that area of the pitch to allow Bellingham a season to adapt to life in Madrid, learning from the likes of Modric and Kroos before gradually stepping up to be the main man in midfield when the baton is eventually passed on for good.
