After putting on a show at the national stadium of his native England in a Euro 2024 qualifier at Wembley on Tuesday, this weekend, Jude Bellingham will return to his day job in Spain.

England defeated Italy 3-1 to secure qualification for Euro 2024, and the performances of the likes of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Bellingham himself make them one of the favorites going into next year’s tournament.

Thanks to supposed pressures of his day job, for Bellingham this is just another day at the office.

The pressure that comes with being a highly-rated young player for such a high-profile soccer nation with high expectations can sometimes overwhelm, but it is something Bellingham is used to.

He plays for Real Madrid, one of the biggest clubs in world soccer. One for whom every game is a must-win and every game sees players judged, then praised or criticised accordingly.

There is no hiding place at Real, but Bellingham has not sought one. In fact, he has done the opposite, regularly finding the spotlight in his short time in the Spanish capital to date.

His adaptation is partly thanks to Real Madrid’s manager Carlo Ancelotti. A cool, considered character used to dealing with big-name players, providing a down-to-earth realism amid the often ruthless, unforgiving world of top-level football.

The experienced Italian has also got the best from Bellingham tactically, often using him as a second striker or central forward for Real where he can combine direct attacking play with clever movement and creativity.

“I am loving football at the minute,” Bellingham, a 20-year-old speaking like an experienced, seasoned pro, told Channel 4.

“Every time I'm on the pitch I'm just enjoying myself, I'm feeling really free.

“The management at my club and my country are giving me the freedom to play it how I see it really.

“I know that defensively I have to keep my discipline but offensively I know I can offer a lot all over the pitch and I've got that freedom to do it. I'm loving my footie.

“I think [No. 10] is probably the position that suits the two systems I'm playing in the most at the minute, and the teammates I'm playing with at the minute.

“In the last few months, I have been really working on my timing, getting into the box and I am arriving with a different kind of hunger.”

Bellingham has scored ten goals in ten games across La Liga and the Champions League for Real Madrid so far this season.

Eight of Real’s 20 goals in the league—of which they sit top, two points ahead of Girona and three ahead of rival Barcelona—were scored by Bellingham.

“I know that with the big transfer, and everything that comes with a transfer like that, the fact is I have to deliver,” he added.

“I have to be the one that tries to decide games whether it is a goal, assist, or a match-winning performance.”

Real travels to Sevilla this weekend where it will be looking to continue its impressive start to the recent campaign.

As shown in England’s win against Italy, Bellingham is effective when it comes to creating space and chances for others, with his passing and off the ball running, but he is also the top scorer at Real this season—an example of that “different kind of hunger" he speaks of.

He's been involved in 16 goals in the 13 games played by Real Madrid and England combined since the start of this season.

With Kane currently plying his trade at another continental giant, Bayern Munich, it feels like England is in a good place to capitalise on a talented squad and the togetherness Gareth Southgate has generated within it during his time at the helm.

England has not won a major tournament since it won its only World Cup in 1966, but under Southgate it reached the final of Euro 2020, losing to Italy, and the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup.

The big-game, continental pressure and spotlight experienced by Bellingham and Kane may be the thing that gives them a better chance of getting over the line in 2024.

Rather than tactical changes or team structures driven by the coaching staff, it may be these players that force the issue and make England a more enterprising team that can win a tournament, rather than merely threatening to win one.

When asked if playing for Real was helping him take his game to the next level, Bellingham replied: “Yeah. 100%. I think when you're around those kind of mentalities and players with that quality every day—you see them in the gym, you see how they prepare for games with the analysis, the physio, the work on the pitch, how competitive some of the training sessions are—it just takes you to a new level mentally, physically, and technically.

“I feel like I'm just gonna keep listening and my game will improve.”

If Bellingham’s game does improve further, he will be in the conversation for the biggest end-of-year awards and be ranked up there with the best players in the game, but for now he just wants to help his team’s win.

So far, so good.