Arsenal Legend, Paul Merson has warned Real Madrid midfielder, Jude Bellingham that players from opposition teams would stop him from playing next season.
According to Merson, the England international needs to come up with a solution to maintain a top level like Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when the new 2024/25 season starts.
Bellingham impressed in his first season at Real Madrid after joining the Champions League winners from Dortmund.
Speaking on the Football’s Greatest YouTube channel alongside presenter Jeff Stelling, Merson said:
“He [Bellingham] comes in and hits La Liga by storm, 17 goals in 20 games, bombing into the box.
“[They] can’t stop him, unreal. All of a sudden he gets to Christmas and it’s all Bellingham.
“Now they are playing the likes of Cadiz or Real Betis or Athletic Bilbao and in their team talk [they are like], ‘gotta stop this kid Bellingham’. Not Vinicus Jr or Rodrygo or Modric or Kroos. Now all of a sudden it’s all [about] stopping Bellingham and everybody stopped him.
“He’s got to come up with solutions. This is why you talk about people like Ronaldo, Messi, Ryan Giggs. It’s going to be hard for him next year, believe me.
“If he performs at the same level next year, I will be like ‘wow, you’re special’ because he will get stopped from playing and he has to come up with ideas.”