Bellingham to take No. 5 shirt: who else has worn number at Real Madrid?

Jude Bellingham is to wear a Real Madrid shirt number with plenty of recent history behind it: the England midfielder has opted for No. 5.

Bellingham, who completed his move to Madrid on Thursday, will follow in the footsteps of the club’s legendary former player and coach Zinédine Zidane. The Frenchman sported the number during a five-year Madrid playing spell that’s best remembered for his stunning winning goal in Los Blancos’ 2002 Champions League final win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Vallejo agrees to give Bellingham No. 5

No. 5 was already occupied at Madrid, but Bellingham has revealed that he spoke to its previous incumbent, defender Jesús Vallejo, who agreed to hand the number over to the new signing. “I’m thankful to Vallejo, we talked and he didn’t mind,” Bellingham told reporters during his official unveiling. “He is a great guy. I am very grateful.

“I really admire Zidane, his legacy at this club; now I have his number. But I am different. It’s a number that inspires me. 22 has been my number for a long time, but now I’ll wear the 5″. Other memorable Madrid players to have worn the number include Manolo Sanchís, Fernando Redondo, Fernando Hierro, José Antonio Camacho and, more recently, Raphael Varane.

No more 22 for Bellingham

This will be the first time in his club career that Bellingham, who has moved to the Bernabéu after three seasons at Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, has used any number other than 22. The 19-year-old began wearing the number as a youth player at English club Birmingham City, who retired the shirt after his 2020 sale to Dortmund. Currently, Madrid’s No. 22 shirt is in the possession of defender Antonio Rüdiger.