"(I'm) happy to have made it at the third attempt. I wanted it so much, it is a trophy for life that you can only win once."

Bellingham will today receive the Golden Boy award, a trophy with which Italian outlet Tuttosport awards the best U21 male footballer in the world every year.

"I am proud. The Golden Boy is a beautiful award," he said.

"An important recognition, with an important history that has already exceeded 20 years.

"The (former winners) confirms its greatness and authority. It is a further incentive to give more and do better and better."

Bellingham continued: "I can say that I am quite familiar with the roll of honour of this prestigious international trophy, which (began) the very year I was born.

"I'm the third Englishman to win it, after Wayne Rooney, one of my idols, in 2005, when he was at Manchester United, and Raheem Sterling in 2014, when he was with Liverpool."

'Thank you, Carlo'

"I dedicate it to everyone. To so many people; to my Real Madrid teammates and the entire staff, to coach (Carlo) Ancelotti, to the president, to my family, to my mum Denise, to my dad Mark, to my younger brother Jobe, to my friends who have sympathetically bombard me with congratulatory messages.

"Without all these people, without their help on and off the pitch, their constant encouragement and without ever forgetting the fans who support me, I could not have won the Golden Boy award.

"My explosion this year? I put myself into it, a fierce commitment to improving myself with work, but the credit goes to coach Ancelotti who found the right position for me and gave me more freedom on the pitch.

"I'm someone who loves to compete and who is ambitious. Now that I have the prestigious Golden Boy award in my hands, I want to move forward quickly, I hope this award is a launching pad to win many more trophies."

The Golden Boy of the future

"Excluding, due to age limits, those of us from 2003, I'll say three names.

"First of all Arda Guler, now recovered from the injuries that prevented him from making his debut with Real; he is a phenomenon, we see him in training and are (fascinated) by him.

"Then my former teammate Jamie Bynoe-Gittens from Borussia Dortmund and finally my brother, Jobe, a thoroughbred target man like our dad.

"By the way, I'd like to send a message to my friend Jamal Musiala from Bayern, who came second, and with whom I shared the locker room of the English youth national team for about three years."