Real Madrid had been following Jude Bellingham for a long while before their €103 million (£89.6 million) agreement with Borussia Dortmund was finally reached in May, and announced in June.

During Real’s pursuit of Bellingham, a source at the club, speaking anonymously like all sources in this article because they were not authorised to comment, told The Athletic: “If a generational player like him can come to your team, you have to do everything you can to get them.”

The deal with Dortmund also includes potential add-ons worth up to a further 30 per cent of that transfer fee. Bellingham could still become Madrid’s record signing – and he looks worth every penny.

His impact has been immediate and beyond impressive. He has scored 10 goals and contributed three assists in his 10 appearances in all competitions so far this season. In eight of those games, he was named player of the match. Madrid knew he was good. But this good?

“It’s impressive how much he has invested in himself to become a 360-degree footballer,” says a source with direct day-to-day experience of Bellingham’s preparation. “Beyond what he does on the pitch, there’s his communication skills with the media, his competitiveness, his leadership, the psychological side of his game, the visualisation process he does before each match. It’s not just about ability. He has worked hard, with the help of his family too, to become what he is becoming now.”

Real were always confident Bellingham had the talent they were looking for. They also believed he had the right attitude and personality. That was reflected in observations provided by chief scout Juni Calafat and his team, who were the ones who got to know him, as well as his family, during the recruitment process.

The past few months have seen everyone else come to the same quick realisation, too. From team-mates, coaching staff and other voices at the club, this is the inside view on Bellingham’s remarkable start to life at Real Madrid.

Bellingham’s exquisite politeness and supreme confidence was obvious and appreciated from the start. At his presentation on June 15, his first words to reporters reflected both of those traits: “It is a pleasure to meet you, I hope we can have a very good relationship in the coming years.”

That day, the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid’s big signings are traditionally unveiled, was unavailable due to building works. Bellingham’s gala was instead held at Madrid’s basketball facilities, before he faced the media in a room at the club’s training ground. There, he impressed with attention to other fine details, such as his words of thanks to Jesus Vallejo, who had not yet been loaned to Granada, for leaving him the No 5 shirt.

Fans were not allowed to attend, but there was still a giddy atmosphere. On their way to their dressing room after training, several members of Real Madrid Castilla, the club’s reserve team made up of youth players, were talking only about Bellingham.

“He’s going to be paid €12 million net!” said one of the players. “The best paid in the squad?” asked another.

Madrid’s youth players (some of whom are actually slightly older than Bellingham) fell in love with him from the start, and they have developed a good relationship since.

“Bellingham is a great professional and at the same time he is very close, very attentive to the kids,” says an academy source.

“He’s always with a smile or a wink when they do well or, when something goes wrong, with other gestures and words. He is very, very positive, extremely polite and behaves with great class. There’s nothing fake. He’s what you see on the pitch: a gentleman.”

While Bellingham’s salary has not been revealed, it was widely believed among Real staff that he would have been paid more had he chosen to go to the Premier League. The player himself has spoken about this with team-mates, explaining that he would have earned more at Manchester City, but that he was always more attracted to the grandeur of Real Madrid.

The fact he has settled so well also has much to do with the relationships he has forged with team-mates. Vinicius Junior had already been writing to him for months, trying to convince him to come to Real.

When the agenda allows, Bellingham goes out to dinner with Vinicius Jr or the currently injured Eder Militao, and some others. One of the Englishman’s first such plans was a meal with two other summer arrivals, Brahim Diaz and Arda Guler, in a private room at the famous De Maria restaurant.

When Bellingham first arrived in the Spanish capital, he stayed at the Eurostars Madrid Tower hotel. He then moved to a well-known luxury development, where he keeps his parents close. Almost every day of the week, he eats according to a careful diet prepared for him by a private chef, but on certain occasions one of his favourite dishes is baked beans and eggs.

“His mother is very close to him, she is very important,” says one club source. “She helps him, advises him, takes him to Valdebebas (the club’s training ground) and, when she can’t, he usually goes in Vinicius’ car. Sometimes there is criticism about how parents manage their children’s careers, but in this case it’s very good.”

On the pitch, from the start of pre-season, Bellingham immediately shone. At least, this was what was conveyed privately from the club to journalists, who at that early stage of summer training had no access to what was going on at Valdebebas.

However, members of the media who covered the United States tour, including The Athletic, were soon able to see first-hand that it was all true. In each passage of play, just two touches were enough to distinguish him as different. He asked for the ball a lot, so it was common to hear “Jude, Jude!” from team-mates looking to connect with him, and he dealt with possession wonderfully.

At Madrid’s Los Angeles training base in July, hundreds of fans waited to ask for photos and autographs. Along with Vinicius Jr, Bellingham was the most acclaimed. He was also the most attentive – he spent time with the supporters on a daily basis.

His attitude, as well as his ability, impressed his new team-mates, too. If Joselu scored a goal, Bellingham would be the first to congratulate him. If Toni Kroos was down hurt, Bellingham would go over and pick him up. With Lucas Vazquez, he made good friends and joked all the time. Carlo Ancelotti and his coaching staff were captivated by his eagerness to learn and adapt to the new system – his questions were frequent.

Ancelotti explained in his first press conference in Los Angeles that one of the main motivations for his change of system, from the familiar 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 with a diamond in midfield and Bellingham at its head, was to “enhance the qualities” of their star signing.

The new position promised much, and early joy came with his first goal, against Manchester United in the second friendly of pre-season. Afterwards, when he spoke to the media, the impact he had was by now familiar: approachable, cheerful, clear. Journalists kept repeating one word: charisma.

Bellingham is making efforts to learn Spanish. One player says that “he doesn’t speak perfectly, but he knows how to communicate very well thanks to his personality and his way of being”. Internally, the special relationship between Bellingham and Antonio Pintus, the first team’s head physical coach, has also been much commented on.

In a Real Madrid TV video from this summer, Pintus said: “I don’t want to say who, but today a player told me: ‘You’re the devil.’” That player was Bellingham, his words spoken after a tough running test, delivered with an added, “but I love you”.

The fitness team at Madrid are delighted with Bellingham. “He’s from an English generation who really likes to work hard,” says one source in that department. “He suffered a lot in pre-season, but he adapted to Pintus with a lot of humility and acceptance of fatigue. He’s incredible.”

Another member of the coaching staff is not short of praise, although he doesn’t believe there is a secret formula behind the magic we have seen.

“There is nothing special,” this source says. “The most special thing is maybe that normality. He likes to work, is very polite, kind, respectful and professional.”

One key detail emerged recently, via an interview with Bellingham himself on Real Madrid TV, in which he shared details of his pre-match preparation.

“I like to visualise the game,” he said. “I see the pitch, the grass, my playing position… That way I feel calmer, I know where I’m going to be on the pitch. It’s something I’ve been doing throughout my career and thanks to that I go into matches without nerves and prepared for everything. I was taught this from a very young age and I still practise it.”

There was a lot of talk among coaching staff, fans and the media about how difficult it would be for Madrid to compensate for Karim Benzema’s goalscoring this season, with Marco Asensio also having left the club. Between them, they scored 43 goals and provided 14 assists last term.

Bellingham didn’t seem like the answer, based on his position and stats at Dortmund (14 goals, seven assists in 42 games over 2022-23). But Ancelotti had an idea and the player was eager to build on his already substantial talent. Those doubts over the team’s ability to score goals have not been entirely silenced, but they have been greatly reduced, thanks to Bellingham’s extraordinary output.

Now it is rare to see a Real Madrid game without him scoring and/or assisting. Fans at the Santiago Bernabeu attend each game in the expectation of singing his name and imitating his celebration. Everyone loves him. Spanish media are quick to focus on his every gesture, and they have not stopped commenting on how Bellingham does everything well, as if he were the perfect son-in-law.

In Madrid’s senior offices, it has always been said that no player should be considered too expensive if their talent justifies the investment, and despite President Florentino Perez initially having doubts over his price tag, Bellingham is proving that correct.

When Cristiano Ronaldo left to join Juventus in 2018, Benzema, then aged 30 and in his ninth year at Real, stepped up to take on the mantle of leadership he left behind. Bellingham is doing exactly the same now, but at 20 years old, in his debut season and in a new position.

Perhaps it was Dani Carvajal who best summed up his start at Real Madrid, speaking after another match in which Bellingham had made the difference, with two goals against Osasuna just before October’s international break.

He only spoke two words, but they summed up the mood of many at the club: “I’m amazed.”

• The Athletic report