It had the potential to be a massive transfer saga that rumbled on all summer long. Instead, Jude Bellingham has been snapped up by Real Madrid extremely quickly and we can all stop thinking about it.
The prodigious midfielder is undoubtedly the brightest young English talent right now, evidenced by the fact that he isn't really viewed as a young talent. He is an established star in Europe at just 19 years old.
He is one of the first names in the England starting lineup and his stock will continue to rise now he plays for Real Madrid, having had the pick of any club in the world.
Given his height, frame and technical ability, comparisons are often made between Bellingham and the great Zinedine Zidane, especially now he is following in the Frenchman's footsteps as Real Madrid's new number five.
Here's a look at what Bellingham has achieved in the lead-up to this move and what Zidane had proved before he was snapped up by Los Blancos.
Jude Bellingham's career before Real Madrid
Jude Bellingham's rise in football has been nothing short of incredible. He is a product of Birmingham City's youth academy and hails from Stourbridge. Once he was of age, Birmingham essentially fast-tracked him to the first team.
They knew what they had on their hands and it became abundantly clear to everyone else after only 44 games for Birmingham before his move to Borussia Dortmund. The other major contenders to sign him at that stage were Manchester United and the fact he chose Dortmund was viewed as a sign of maturity. He opted for less money and glamour, but a club where other young stars have thrived and been allowed to move on without a fuss.
There was a lot of laughter when Birmingham City decided to retire his number 22 shirt. Permanently removing a squad number tends to happen when a club legend has retired or passed away. Retiring the shirt number of a healthy 17-year-old who has moved on seemed bizarre, but as time has gone by, the decision has looked less and less weird.
At Borussia Dortmund, Bellingham thrived almost immediately and quickly became one of their star players. He played a staggering 46 games in his first season at Borussia Dortmund, 44 in his second, and 42 in his third.
Bellingham managed to win the DFB-Pokal at Dortmund and so nearly delivered a title last season, with his absence through injury on the final day particularly noticeable.
READ MORE ON JUDE BELLINGHAM'S REAL MADRID MOVE
Zinedine Zidane's career before joining Real Madrid
You'd be forgiven for looking at these stats and thinking Zinedine Zidane was an insanely better player as a youngster than Jude Bellingham, but the first thing to clarify is his move to Real Madrid did not come until much later in the Frenchman's career.
Zidane was 29 years old when he ditched Juventus for the Spanish capital in a deal worth £46.2m in 2001. That fee made him the most expensive player in the world, but how things have changed since.
Before the record transfer, Zidane played for Cannes, Bordeaux and Juventus. He had already turned himself into arguably the best player in the world and would spend the rest of his career at Real Madrid.
Bellingham's stature in the game right now is not at the same level as Zidane's when he joined Los Blancos, but Bellingham is a decade younger and not all that far behind when it comes to being revered by the football world.
Once at Real Madrid, Zidane made a further 227 appearances, scoring 49 times and getting 68 assists. Another three red cards arrived too.
Jude Bellingham stats compared to Zinedine Zidane
Overall, Bellingham has averaged a goal or assist in every 3.3 games during his career so far, which is very good for a midfielder whose primary role isn't to score goals.
Before joining Real Madrid, Zidane averaged a goal or assist every 2.5 games. Zidane was a more offensive player than Bellingham has proved to be so far, but the Englishman is not exactly lagging behind.
This article was originally published on 90min as Jude Bellingham stats compared to Zinedine Zidane before he joined Real Madrid.
