Stourbridge's Jude Bellingham scores 1.37m follower boost after move to Real Madrid

The 19-year-old midfielder, who started his football journey at Stourbridge Juniors, agreed a six-year £88.5 million deal to move to the Bernabeu from Borussia Dortmund last week.

Betting website KingCasinoBonus.uk claims that from June 1-15 the player’s Instagram page jumped from 9.93 million to11.3 million followers - an increase of 1.37 million in just over two weeks.

Ionut Marin, of the website says: “In the cases of marquee transfers by internationally renowned clubs, it’s always interesting to see just how much this affects a player’s online popularity.

“We have recently observed the effect of Messi’s move to MLS team Inter Miami which saw their Instagram account increase by around six million new followers.

“Here we see the opposite effect, with Real Madrid’s huge 141 million following directing a huge boost to a player who is comparatively less well known.

“With nearly a 20 per cent increase in followers over the last month, this highlights just how important this transfer could be for the young Englishman, who must ensure he seizes the opportunity with both hands.

“He will face stiff competition for a starting spot in midfield from other young and exciting players such as Camavinga, Tchouaméni, and Valverde, not to mention the more experienced Kroos and Modric.”