Jude Bellingham and his model girlfriend have been tipped to exceed the net worth of Kylian Mbappe by a football finance expert.
The England ace has been talismanic so far at Euro 2024, scoring an overhead kick in the dying seconds of the Three Lions' added-time victory over Slovakia and calmly slotting away his penalty in the shootout success against Switzerland. It was made public before the tournament that Bellingham was in a relationship with PrettyLittleThing model Laura Celia Valk.
The star's big-money move to Real Madrid and a range of sponsorship deals have already garnered the two a nice fortune. Now, it is expected that Bellingham and his girlfriend, known as Laura Celia on Instagram, will earn further millions and could even surpass the likes of soon-to-be team-mate and France megastar Mbappe in terms of marketability.
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Winning La Liga's Player of the Year in just his first season with Los Blancos, Bellingham will be joined by Mbappe next season as Real Madrid look to repeat their league and Champions League successes. It is currently estimated that Bellingham’s net worth is £39m ($50m), earned from brand endorsement deals such as McDonald's and Lucozade, but will surely increase over the next few years.
Laura Celia is already followed by more than 500k people on Instagram and is represented by the Manchester-based Four Models agency, so combining their fortune and marketability, the two have the potential to exceed Mbappe's wealth. The French striker is said to have amassed a £140m ($180m) during his years at Paris Saint-Germain and deals with Nike, EA Sports and Hublot have made him one of the richest players on the planet.
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But Dr Rob Wilson, a professor of applied sport finance, expects Bellingham and his girlfriend to surpass the French ace in the coming years. He told Saxo: "If we had this conversation in 10 years' time and Bellingham continues his trajectory with Real Madrid, then I think he will surpass Mbappe considerably. He has the potential to also exceed Ronaldo and Messi in terms of marketability.
"We talk about Messi and Ronaldo in relatively balanced terms – there is a debate over who is the better player and who has achieved more – I think Bellingham will exceed what Mbappe can do. His age and the fact he has only just got to Real Madrid, is massively stacked in his favour."
Dr Wilson added: “I think his image and his authenticity make him hugely marketable, whereas Mbappe does not have that. Whether it is because he has played in France or the fact he played in Messi's shadow, I just don't think he has the brand activation that Bellingham could have."
The England superstar is slowly but surely becoming a household name and looks to set to become one of the biggest personalities in world football should he keep it up.
