The unexpected connection between Taylor Swift and Jude Bellingham

They come from two different worlds. One is a rising superstar from the Midlands of England, now residing in Spain as Real Madrid's great hope for the future. The other is an American pop star with a certifiable claim to be the most beloved singer on the planet. Different as they may be, there has been a weird crossover between the two stars.

No, it's nothing romantic – in fact, it's all football! It's emerged that Taylor Swift might have just helped Jude Bellingham to win the Golden Boy.

The Golden Boy Award is awarded to the best European player under 21 years of age, selected from a pool of 100 players who are nominated by European journalists. Gavi from FC Barcelona won it in 2022, beating out Jude Bellingham on the back of his sensational final season at Borussia Dortmund.

Of the hundred selected, fans can vote through the 'Tuttosport' website. This first phase of voting is known as the 'Fan Vote'.

From there, a selection of 20 footballers is made and the winner of the final Golden Boy is chosen by journalists, coaches, and footballers.

Of the 20 selected, Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Alejandro Balde (FC Barcelona) are the clear favourites, but Balde found himself with a handicap – he doesn't like Taylor Swift.

Not only that, but the defender had no problem verbalizing it when asked specifically about it in an interview with Barca Universal. "No, I don't like her music," he said, in an interview that resurfaced on X (formerly Twitter).

That lowkey dismissal was enough for the 'Swifties', the global legion of Taylor Swift fans, to enter the web en masse and vote for his rival, Jude Bellingham. "Hello, Swifties! We can't let this guy (Balde) win the Golden Boy award. Vote for Jude Bellingham here," is the tweet that went viral to tilt the vote to the English player.

The legion of 'Swifties' not only shared en masse the link to vote for Golden Boy 2023, but they accompanied it with the hashtag #JudeGoldenBoy. Thus, Jude Bellingham has come close to claiming 50% of the votes, while Alejandro Balde is at 27.5%.

Other well-known footballers who are among the candidates are Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich, in the photo), Antonio Silva (Benfica), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) and Ryan Cherki (Olympique Lyon). While none of them are close to claiming it from Bellingham or Balde, you never know what the world will throw up...

If he wins the Golden Boy 2023, one has to imagine Bellingham will be doing everything in his power to line up a meeting with Swift when she is in Madrid for her highly sought-after Eras tour in May 2024. He'll have a fair shot at this you'd think, given it's happening at Santiago Bernabéu – Real Madrid's home ground!