Real Madrid have their midfielder of the future, the cornerstone in what may prove to be a grouping more than worthy of succeeding the great names that came beforehand. In Jude Bellingham, however, they have found that in the sort of player who was supposed to have been confined to the past.
The past 15 years have been something of an age of specialist midfielders, a triumvirate carved out of distinct roles. Behind Luka Modric and Toni Kroos in the great Real Madrid midfield that is slowly being broken up -- the former accelerant, the latter its tempo setter -- came Casemiro, a player whose primary role was to disrupt even if he has shown in a Manchester United shirt that he could have done much more. The same is true at Manchester City, where Ilkay Gundogan is the space-investigator who creeps into the box unnoticed while Rodri mops up behind him.
In Bellingham, the 19-year-old who departs for Spain as the Bundesliga's player of the season, Madrid have signed a player who can fill any of those roles as and when required by Carlo Ancelotti. He is the classic English midfielder who won a degree of condescending admiration from the continent, a Bryan Robson, Steven Gerrard or even Roy of the Rovers. Watch Bellingham for any length of time and what will strike you first is the sheer activity of the player. Scarcely a facet of a game is not impacted by this one man. For Dortmund, he has been a pivot, a creator and a scorer. For England it is all about the dynamism of an eight.
There is a reason why Bellingham wears No.22, after all. Coming through the Birmingham City academy he viewed himself as the number 10, the creative hub of his team. The challenge that came from coach Mike Dodds -- who Bellingham says "molded the person that I am today" -- was to be much more, a four, an eight and a 10 in one. Add them together and you end up with the number that the Blues retired on his departure to Borussia Dortmund three years ago.
They might not go that far in Westphalia, but Bellingham has been able to leave through the front door again as he departs for Madrid, indeed on the announcement of his exit Borussia Dortmund's profile pictures across social media were shorn of their Bs in what can only be viewed as a tribute to the teenager so admired that he was captaining the title contenders last season.
"Thank you everyone associated with BVB and the fans for everything over the last 3 years," said Bellingham. "It was an honour to wear your jersey so many times, whether it was in the high or low moments. Whilst I'm happy about my next destination I will never forget the journey I went on to get there. Einmal Borusse, immer Borusse. Best of luck for the future. Heja BVB!."
In a short space of time, Dortmund may well have more than quadrupled the money they paid for Bellingham, a fee that remains a record for the most expensive 17 year old. Now Bellingham is one of Madrid's most expensive ever signings, before he is out of his teens. Even the initial £88.5 million, which could rise to a British record £115 million subject to add-ons, looks a steal.
For a price comparable to the promising but untested Enzo Fernandez, Madrid are getting a player who last season ranked in fbref's Bundesliga top 10 for (deep breath): passes into the final third, progressive successful take-ons, shot creating actions, goal creating actions, successful take-ons, progressive carries, fouls drawn, tackles and blocks. Everywhere you look on his scouting report, it's 99th percentile, the footballing equivalent of those geniuses who find themselves at an Ivy League college before they've hit their teens. A chance creator, a ball mover, a ball winner who also delivered eight goals and four assists. Just look at where he is winning back possession for Dortmund. Everywhere.
That adaptability will serve Madrid well in the short and long term. Carlo Ancelotti is in the uniquely blessed position of having the best old midfield in the world to go alongside the best young midfield in the world. For the time being Bellingham's task could be to provide legs alongside Modric and Kroos in the biggest games of the season but as they age there will be opportunities to hone a set up that gives the new man, Federico Valverde, Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga space to excel.
Place Bellingham alongside Tchouameni and Valverde, for instance, and Ancelotti might conclude that the Englishman's passing skills are the optimum ones to exploit while allowing Valverde to crash into shooting positions as he does so well. Then again there is no reason that Bellingham, who led Dortmund in shots last season, couldn't do the same. Whatever Madrid needs, their new man can deliver and it would appear he will do so without a fuss. There is a reason why BVB entrusted him to be the youngest man to lead a Bundesliga side out since record collecting began in the mid-1990s, why Edin Terzic described him as "the oldest 19-year-old I have ever seen". Bellingham is a player of rare maturity, one who is not moving to Madrid for the salary bump but to become the best version of himself.
What that version might be will be anyone's guess for some time yet. When a player can already do it all before he has even entered his 20s, what comes next might just be unimaginable.
