The Ancelotti Connection: How I got the inside line on Jude Bellingham
Graeme Croser went to Birmingham, Dortmund and Madrid while writing his biography of Jude Bellingham and one interview was key in unlocking the story
The assignment was crystal clear. Daunting, too. Deliver a book on Jude Bellingham in four months flat.
As a seasoned newspaper journalist, the discipline of writing to deadline was nothing new. The word count was higher, the subject matter unfamiliar, but of course I said yes.
Immediately, I resolved that this would not be what in the trade is known as a ‘cuts job’ – a project founded purely on material already in the public domain, with no new journalistic work undertaken. That’s how it goes for a lot of football biographies.
There was plenty of published material out there; no shortage of background articles, podcasts and YouTube footage devoted to Europe’s newly-crowned Golden Boy. But I wanted to tell the story from a fresh perspective. Those existing sources could be used to fill in the gaps.
Contact was made with the Bellingham family and co-operation politely declined. Fine, no big deal and not unexpected. I’d been up front about my mission and the door was left ajar should they wish to reconsider.
I set about securing interviews with those who knew Bellingham at the various stages on his journey, hungry for context and anecdotes. And I arranged visits to the three locations central to the story: Birmingham, Dortmund and Madrid.
Jude had debuted for Birmingham City as a 16-year-old and I watched first-hand as the Blues were relegated to the third tier of English football on May 4, 2024 – the very same day on which Jude was crowned La Liga champion with Real.
With the Champions League still up for grabs, it felt imperative to watch him play at the Bernabeu before the season’s end and so I made contact with the club.
I hit a brick wall. The comms department issued a curt response stating that in line with club policy they would not be able to assist in any way.
Fortunately, I had an ace up my sleeve. A friend had established a relationship with Davide Ancelotti, son of Carlo and Madrid’s assistant manager, as he studied for his Uefa Pro Licence qualification in Wales.
An introduction was made and Ancelotti Jr agreed to meet me during my trip. I managed to secure a ticket to see Madrid play Alaves and was rewarded with a volleyed Bellingham goal to open the scoring in a 5-0 win. The stadium responded by serenading the scorer with their favourite Beatles tune (and the title of my book).
The next day, I met Davide in a cafe near Retiro Park, just a short walk from the Cibeles fountain where the team had publicly celebrated their La Liga title in style, a few days earlier.
Over a relaxed couple of hours we chatted about Madrid and Jude. By the end I knew I had a lump of gold which could be melted down and drizzled over various chapters of my forthcoming book.
The words of Ancelotti would provide an inside track on Bellingham’s standout debut season in Spain and, allied with the testimonies of trusted journalists, former team-mates and coaches, I had a wealth of fresh material with which to complete the story.
The clinching of a league and Champions League double allowed me to add a real-time reporting element to the tale, likewise Jude’s involvement in England’s progression to the final of Euro 2024.
I travelled to Germany and, although I missed that stunning overhead kick against Slovakia, I was present to see the dream die as Spain took the trophy in Berlin.
As a palpably exhausted Bellingham reacted emotionally to the loss, the notion of a fairytale evaporated. Bellingham is still only 21 but the steepest upward trajectory of his career is now at an end.
And so the book ends not in triumph, but with a question mark.
Not so much ‘who else?’ as ‘what next?’