Jude Bellingham finished his first season at Real Madrid with 23 goals (AFP via Getty)
Jose Mourinho has predicted that Jude Bellingham will score fewer goals for Real Madrid next season following the arrival of Kylian Mbappe.
The England midfielder capped a superb debut season at Real Madrid on Saturday evening as he helped his side to a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley.
Bellingham, who joined Madrid in a €133.9 million (£115m) deal from Dortmund last summer, is also in contention to win the Ballon d’Or after a brilliant individual campaign in which he scored 23 goals in all competitions for the Spanish club.
Meanwhile, Madrid’s squad is set to receive a huge boost this summer with Mbappe due to arrive on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.
And Mourinho feels Mbappe’s addition to Madrid’s attack will see Bellingham moved to a deeper midfield role.
‘Bellingham will score less goals next season,’ Mourinho told TNT Sports after Madrid’s win over Dortmund in the Champions League final on Saturday.
Kylian Mbappe is set to complete his move to Real Madrid (AFP via Getty)
‘Because the system is going to change, the position of Bellingham is going to change. They will play Rodrygo, Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, they will play three.
‘For me, he [Carlo Ancelotti] will play with two midfield players and Bellingham behind the three attacking players.
‘So in midfield he will play probably [Federico] Valverde, [Eduardo] Camavinga and [Aurelien] Tchouameni, and Luka [Modric] coming when the game needs eyes.
‘But with these guys, Rodrygo, Mbappe and Vinicius, to play against them… it’s hard.’
Meanwhile, Steve McManaman believes Madrid’s summer transfer window will be quiet following Mbappe’s arrival.
‘I think everybody was just waiting for this game to be out of the way,’ McManaman said of Mbappe’s imminent arrival at Madrid.
‘You had to respect PSG, you had to wait for their season to end, you had to wait for this [the Champions League final] and I think the announcement will be made in the next 48 hours or so.
‘Kylian will come in, Endrick, the new Brazilian superstar, will come in. Two forwards, and I think that might be it actually for Madrid.
‘I think the year after next they will concentrate on some defensive areas, certainly the full-backs they will be looking at. Very methodical aren’t they in picking their players.’
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