Jude Bellingham and girlfriend Laura Celia Valk’s relationship could be worth ‘millions’
England and Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham isn’t just winning on the pitch after his dramatic goal at Euro 2024, he’s also dating model Laura Celia Valk
A football finance expert believes Jude Bellingham and Laura Celia Valk could become football’s answer to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
The mercurial Real Madrid midfielder carried out a rescue mission for England at Euro 2024 by scoring a spectacular overhead kick to level proceedings against Slovakia on Sunday. It allowed the Three Lions a route back into the contest as they eventually booked their spot in the quarter-finals against Switzerland.
Despite the fact he has already won La Liga and the Champions League in his first campaign at the Bernabeu, Bellingham’s stock is still rising. While there have been many great football players, lots have confined their stardom to what they did on the pitch.
However, Dr Rob Wilson believes he could become an even bigger star away from the pitch. The Professor of Applied Sport Finance thinks the 21-year-old’s marketing potential is vast and ultimately more than capable of overtaking the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
While speaking on behalf of Saxo, Dr. Wilson said: “Bellingham is quite similar to Travis Kelce in that way with Taylor Swift, there is an alignment and exposure.
“From a brand alignment, it would be interesting to see if they ever do any co-activation, where they are both involved in promotion, but there will be a lot of off-field work as well. There will also be a natural increase in the level of exposure to brands like PrettyLittleThing as a result of the indirect association.
“The really smart commercial people will be looking at that and thinking, ‘PrettyLittleThing is a really well thought of brand, as are Real Madrid, there might be a chance of some co-activation’. It could be worth millions for Bellingham and Real Madrid.”
Bellingham has already starred for Kim Kardashian’s brand SKIMS (
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Valk, who boasts a degree in creative business at the Amsterdam University of Applied Science, also founded Bobby Rose Agency, a content and consultancy agency which specialises in increasing the growth in companies.
She also boasts a wide modelling portfolio which has seen her star for the likes of Bali Body and Monday Swimwear, accumulating more than 500,000 followers on Instagram in the process. While both are in the public eye, they try to keep details of their relationship quiet.
At present, both are focussing on their own professions. Bellingham’s primary focus is currently on Euro 2024 and England’s upcoming quarter-final clash against Switzerland. While it’s difficult to predict how Gareth Southgate’s side will fare in the rest of the tournament, Wilson thinks Bellingham’s future, from a marketing perspective, is easy to predict.
Laura Celia Valk is building a strong brand for herself (
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Instagram/lauraceliav)
He added: “Bellingham has the potential to exceed Ronaldo and Messi in terms of marketability. If we had this conversation in ten years’ time and Bellingham continues his trajectory with Real Madrid, then I think he will surpass Mbappe considerably.
“They are at the beginning of that journey; Mbappe would be more established than Bellingham as he has been around for a little bit longer, but the potential for both players would be significantly more than the transfer fee that you would need to sign either of them. Mbappe is worth more now than Bellingham, but the England midfielder has a degree more marketability about him and he is in the earlier part of his career as well.
“We talk about Messi and Ronaldo in relatively balanced terms – there is a debate over who is the better player and who has achieved more – I think Bellingham will exceed what Mbappe can do. His age and the fact he has only just got to Real Madrid, is massively stacked in his favour. I think his image and his authenticity make him hugely marketable, whereas Mbappe does not have that. Whether it is because he has played in France or the fact he played in Messi’s shadow, I just don’t think he has the brand activation that Bellingham could have.”
