Jose Mourinho reportedly wants Jude Bellingham as the attacking midfielder behind Kylian Mbappé at Real Madrid. The idea is not just about getting Bellingham closer to goal, it is about making him the main connector in a 4-2-3-1 that the report says guided Madrid’s record-breaking La Liga season.

Bellingham's attacking case

The strongest support for the plan comes from Bellingham’s own output. In England's World Cup matches, he has 6 goals and 1 assist in 6 appearances, with an average rating of 8.05. He scored both goals in England’s 2-1 win against France in the quarter-finals, and twice in the 3-2 victory over Brazil in the last 16.

That is why the role feels less speculative than it first sounds. The report also points to his 2023/24 debut season at Real Madrid, when he delivered 23 goals and 13 assists in 42 matches in all competitions. That is the version of Bellingham Mourinho appears to want back, with the creative burden and the finishing responsibility both sitting on the same player.

El Debate, via football365.com, put it bluntly: “He must be the attacking midfielder in the triumvirate behind Mbappe.” It is a fair reading of what Bellingham does best when he is given space higher up the pitch.

The role Mourinho is reportedly targeting

The report says Mourinho wants Bellingham playing behind Mbappé, not drifting wide or sitting deeper. That would make him the central attacking midfielder in a side built around the French forward, with the Englishman used as the player who links midfield to the final action.

There is a sensible football argument behind it. Bellingham has already shown he can score like a forward and create like a midfielder, and his best output has come when he is allowed to arrive in advanced areas rather than start too far from them. For Madrid, that would mean using him as the tactical hinge rather than treating him as a pure runner from midfield.

The only real caution is that this is being reported rather than confirmed by the club or Mourinho himself. Even so, the fit is obvious enough to take seriously: Madrid have a forward line shaped around Mbappé, and Bellingham has already supplied the kind of goal return that makes him hard to keep away from the centre of it.

England's next listed World Cup fixture is against Argentina on 2026-07-15.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →