The celebrated rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona needs no introduction. Both teams are currently undergoing a major transition, and while Barcelona has largely pinned their hopes on their much-famed academy star; Real Madrid, as usual, has assembled some of the brightest young talents from Europe.

Los Blancos’ latest high-profile signing, Jude Bellingham, has set the stage on fire, scoring five goals in his first four games and has looked at ease at his new club. Besides being a proficient goal-scorer, Bellingham is also a technically adept midfielder and can excel in multiple roles without any hassle. It was his last goal that helped Real Madrid salvage a 2-1 win over Getafe and remain on the top of the points table.

Bellingham is the early favourite to win the Golden Boy, with his main competitor being Barcelona’s left-back Alejandro Balde. The teenage sensation played a crucial role in the title-winning season last year, but is currently on the sideline due to injury. Balde suffered an ankle ligament strain in the last game of the last season and was ruled out for two months.

When Balde was asked whether he enjoys Taylor Swift’s music, the 19-year-old quickly replied, “Do I like Taylor Swift? No, I don’t like her music.” Now this has not gone down well with the Swift’s fan army, and they have launched an online campaign to make him lose the Golden Ball award. A legion of Swifties have started casting their vote for Bellingham.

Before his vote, Balde was leading the poll by a massive margin. But his public avowal of Swift’s worked against him and now Bellingham has taken the lead, garnering 100,000 votes in a very short time. Five years ago, Barcelona approached Bellingham but his father, who was also his agent, never showed up to meet Bojan Krkic, the Barca scout.

“His excuse to us was that we had already signed another English youngster from Aston Villa or West Brom and he said: ‘My son won’t sign for Barcelona. He can’t play with a side with such limited quality,” said Krkic.

The home stadium of Real Madrid, Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, will also be hosting Taylor Swift for her Eras tour later this month.