Jude Bellingham has been player of the World Cup for many – and experts believe he may follow Sir David Beckham (pictured this week in Miami) into the billionaire league

Jude stopped to speak to a disabled Venezuelan journalist in Spanish when most of his teammates walked by

Jude is the face of many brands including Louis Vuitton

He also has a deal with Kardashian underwear brand Skims

Adidas signed a big money deal to sign Jude when he was a teenager playing for Birmingham City

He pointed to a video that emerged after England’s victory over DR Congo in which Bellingham stopped to speak to disabled Venezuelan journalist Manu Gutiérrez while most teammates walked past.

Bellingham leaned down to speak to him in Spanish after being moved by the plight of Venezuela following a devastating earthquake that killed almost 5,000 people.

Mr Borkowski said the footballer had shown himself to be a ‘decent human being’ and the authentic role model brands are desperate to be associated with.

‘That comes from somebody being incredibly human and decent,’ he said of his behaviour.

‘There are plenty of examples of people ignoring mascots, ignoring journalists, ignoring fans. Messi has this bodyguard that surrounds him and stops them. But Bellingham is very open. And that’s what he and his team will be thinking about – it’s not just what you do on the field,’ he told The Times.

US football finance expert Roger Bennett has said Americans have embraced Bellingham – and his confidence.

He told the Financial Times: ‘His mentality is so rare for an Englishman – he actually has an American mentality.

‘He sees himself as a winner and is willing to talk about himself that way with a cocksure confidence that many English people have a difficult relationship with but Americans love.’

Just a year ago, however, his manager Thomas Tuchel described some of his behaviour on the pitch as ‘a bit repulsive’ and claimed it upset his own mother, Gabriele.

Bellingham was also accused of arrogance after yelling ‘Who else?’ following his spectacular overhead kick at Euro 2024 in Germany.

Yet fans have embraced his performances and personality, including the way he has led England’s squad in singing the team’s unlikely tournament anthem, Wonderwall by Oasis.

Jude has said his parents, who are understood to have separated but remain close, are his heroes and it was his grandfather William who inspired his patriotism.

William, a teacher from Southend who died in November 2020, has gone viral this week after a clip of him on Mastermind answering question after question on ‘Nigeria between 1900 and 1966’ went viral.

Adidas spotted Bellingham’s commercial potential long before he became a global superstar.

The sportswear giant signed him while he was still starring for Birmingham City’s first team at the age of 16.

By 17 he had already made his England debut against Ireland in the same month his beloved granddad William died.

Sam Handy, general manager of Adidas’s football division, said: ‘Jude has that aspirational quality that all good brands look for as an ambassador; anyone who has ever met him will tell you his demeanour is incredibly polite, humble and professional.

‘That said, he has an edge, an aura, that makes him comfortable under pressure and it’s clear that for him every moment he steps on the pitch is a chance to show the world what he can do and express himself.’

After a hugely successful spell with Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham followed in Beckham’s footsteps by joining Real Madrid in a £113million move.

One Spanish football executive told the Financial Times: ‘Fans and brands are increasingly drawn towards players and not just the teams they play for.

‘You want someone whose personality stands out above the rest. His celebration, his attitude, the way he carries himself both on and off the pitch — he has that unquantifiable thing that we call authenticity.’

Sir David Beckham is Britain’s first billionaire sportsman after he and wife Victoria doubled their wealth in the last year, according to the Sunday Times Rich List published in May.

The celebrity couple now have a combined fortune of £1.185 billion, a significant increase from the £500million estimated net worth they had on the 2025 list.

The major uptick in wealth is attributed to Sir David’s investments in the US, as the signing of Lionel Messi to Inter Miami until 2028 has lifted the value of his stake in the club, and a vast property development adjoining Inter’s home has provided another windfall.

Meanwhile revenues at Lady Beckham’s eponymous fashion line have topped £100million.

It came in the year that Beckham received his knighthood – but the family also suffered the heartbreak of their very public estrangement from their eldest son Brooklyn.

Bellingham was spotted sitting alongside his girlfriend, Ashlyn Castro, 28, appearing visibly upset while speaking to his father Mark and mother Denise after losing to Argentina

David, pictured with his wife Victoria, looked just as devastated as Argentina came back to win

The foundations of Jude’s success were laid long before the fame and fortune arrived.

Bellingham’s mother Denise, whom he affectionately calls his ‘Queen’, shared his flat in Madrid’s exclusive La Finca district when he moved there.

She is reported to help cook his meals, make his bed and drive him to training.

A former HR professional, she manages her son’s financial affairs and is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in his career.

His father Mark Bellingham, a former West Midlands Police officer and prolific non-league striker nicknamed the ‘Non-League Pelé’, has largely focused on supporting Jude’s younger brother Jobe, now also a star at Borussia Dortmund.

The sacrifices made by both parents were considerable. For years they spent evenings and weekends ferrying their sons around the country for training sessions and matches.

While many young footballers seek independence from their parents, Bellingham has frequently spoken about the benefits of having his mother nearby.

At his Real Madrid unveiling, he said: ‘The role my mum is playing is massive. It is probably the biggest role of anyone, more than my coaches and managers, to be honest.’

Acting as a moderating influence as his profile continues to soar, Denise helps keep him grounded.

‘Without my mum, sometimes I’d get too low with the lows or too high with the highs and I stay pretty humble because I’ve got her around,’ he said.

‘It’s also great to have her there because she’s a great laugh as well. We get on so well and we’re always doing stuff together.’

Bellingham – pictured as a baby with dad Mark – had scouts marvelling at his ball-carrying technique

Denise has travelled with Jude as his career has taken him from Birmingham to Germany and on to Spain. Pictured: Jude taking a selfie with his mother, Denise

Jude Bellingham has been open about the importance of his mother and father to his career.   Pictured with his parents and brother, Jobe on holiday in July 2021

Although Bellingham later idolised stars such as Wayne Rooney, his first footballing hero was his father.

Mark scored more than 700 goals in around 900 appearances during a remarkable non-league career, juggling spells with clubs including Leamington, Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield Town alongside his police career.

He retired from football at the age of 41 in 2017 and is believed to have since stepped away from policing. He rarely discusses the achievements of either of his sons publicly – but is fiercely defensive of them.

A Southend United supporter, Mark introduced Jude to football, with the England star’s first live matches coming alongside his father at Roots Hall.

Speaking about his father in a recent interview, Jude said: ‘We talk about footballing heroes, and my dad was like my first.

‘When you go and watch him play every week in non-league, you know it’s not the Premier League or anything, but seeing the way that he played and the atmosphere, it made me fall in love with football so he was probably my first hero.

‘After the first few times of going, I’d start to pay a bit more attention to the games and stuff, the atmosphere and he’s scoring goals so you see him celebrating and stuff like that – you want that to be me.

‘Growing up, he’d always give me tips on what I could do and now it gets to a certain age and it sort of flips and that’s brilliant because we have that sort of relationship like father and son and then as I got older, like coach and player.’

His parents have acted as a grounding force for the midfielder.

And many believe Bellingham is uniquely positioned to become the defining sporting brand of his generation and the first English footballer since Sir David Beckham to turn worldwide fame into a billion-pound fortune.