Jude Bellingham is at risk of ‘extreme burnout’, and these are the stats that show it

Bellingham has played more minutes than David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Michael Owen had combined when they were his age

There’s something about the way Jude Bellingham carries himself, on and off the football pitch, that stands out to those around him.

Teammates talk of a confidence that belies his years, a desire to continually raise standards in training and matches that is often found in the elite of the elite, in addition to a drive to keep improving personally.

They are characteristics that Cristiano Ronaldo has displayed throughout his career, that Michael Jordan is remembered for when he led the Chicago Bulls to an extraordinary period of dominance in the NBA during the 1990s.

When you consider quite how much football Bellingham has played it makes some sense of his maturity, but could there be a catch?

The data shows that Bellingham played a staggering amount more senior football as a teenager than other players who became stars.

Before turning 20, the midfielder had played 14,445 minutes – more than David Beckham, Frank Lampard and Michael Owen combined by the same age. Wayne Rooney, who broke through at Everton aged 16 and is considered one of the great England players, had played 10,898 minutes.

Bellingham made his debut for Birmingham City at 16 years and 38 days before moving to Borussia Dortmund, where he played for the past three seasons. By the time he left for Real Madrid in the summer he had accumulated more than 130 games for clubs and country.

That intensity will only increase in the years ahead.

This season, he has already scored five goals in four games for Real Madrid – making him La Liga’s top scorer – and put in another fabulous performance for England in the victory against Scotland on Tuesday, his 26th international game.

In other comparisons, Lionel Messi played significantly fewer minutes for Barcelona and Argentina as a teenager, while Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe and Neymar made fewer starts.

A recent report by Fifpro, the world players union, described Bellingham’s schedule as an “extreme teenage workload”.

It warned: “One downside of over-exposure at an early age is the risk of mental burnout, as the pressure to perform at a high-level impact on a young player’s mental health. Another potential issue concerns career longevity, with injuries and the related wear and tear on a player’s body often impacting these players at an earlier stage.”

Gareth Southgate, who handed Bellingham his England debut and has watched him becoming arguably the country’s most important player, does not believe burnout will be an issue.

“I’m not sure I’ve come across a players that’s burnt out,” he said. “There might be different reasons for players not fulfilling their potential. But I think burnout is a careful word. Psychologically some players maybe reach a level where they feel they’ve done enough, they’ve had enough.”

Southgate said that a mitigating factor was that Bellingham had played much of his football to date in the German Bundesliga, where they have a winter break of almost a month. In Spain it is two weeks.

“That would help our league, there’s no question of that,” Southgate said.

It was pointed out to Southgate that Owen, who made his Liverpool debut aged 17 before his phenomenal goal-scoring earned him a Ballon d’Or, struggled to maintain his high level of performance in the later stages of his career. Owen played 89 times for England.