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'Exceptional' Jude Bellingham told he can be better than Real Madrid icon Zinedine Zidane by ex-England star

Michael Owen believes Jude Bellingham has the potential to be better than Zinedine Zidane after his remarkable start to life at Real Madrid.

Bellingham scores again for Madrid
Midfielder enjoyed dream start so far
Owen compares him to Zidane

WHAT HAPPENED? The midfielder continued his brilliant start to the season with another goal for the Spanish giants in a 2-1 Champions League win over Braga on Tuesday. The England international has now scored 11 goals in 12 appearances for the La Liga outfit and his form for both club and country has led ex-Three Lions striker Owen to compare him to France World Cup winner Zidane, who is, arguably, one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

WHAT THEY SAID: He told DAZN Bet: "Bellingham has potential to be as good as, if not better, than Zidane. He's an exceptional player already and I have gone on record saying all kind of lovely things about him, but it's another thing comparing him with other great players when he has literally just from the outset of his career and won very little.

"But he's obviously exciting and promising, he has a great attitude and I can't see where he can trip up in life really because of his mentality. He has the potential to be up there with the greats but it really is potential, he has won very little so far. So we're all talking about potential.

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"So to put him up there with the greatest player I have played with, Zidane, I don't think I can yet. If you put him up there with Zidane then you put him up there with the other greats, the all-timers, top-10 ever. These people have won multiple Ballon d'Ors, World Cups and everything but he certainly has a lot of potential."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The 20-year-old has been one of the signings of the season since his £89 million ($112m) transfer from Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer. So far, he has more than lived up to that fee and there is likely more to come.