Barcelona and Real Madrid will be going head-to-head once again. This time, the race for the highly coveted Golden Boy award is on between Alejandro Balde of Barcelona and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid, and Taylor Swift’s fanbase may have just done Jude Bellingham a big favour.
The 12-time Grammy award-winning artist enjoys immense global popularity, and her passionate fanbase is known for swiftly coming to her defense on social media when needed, although typically, they aren’t known for getting involved in discussions related to football. However, it appears that this is where the interest in music coincides with the interest in football.
Jude Bellingham leads Golden Boy award race
Up until an X user posted something Alejandro Balde said sometime in May about his taste in music, he had been doing incredibly well in the poll for the Golden Boy award.
This post was shared along with a caption that served as a call to action for the singer’s dedicated followers: “Hey Swifties! We can’t allow this Balde guy to walk away with the Golden Boy award. Let’s unite and vote for Jude Bellingham here.”
❗Alejandro Balde was leading the race in the fan vote of the Golden Boy 2023. Jude Bellingham had 30k votes.
— Managing Barça (@ManagingBarca) September 5, 2023
But suddenly, in just 7 minutes Jude suddenly got almost 100k new votes, when the fan vote in total had around 100k votes in a couple of hours. @martinminan_ pic.twitter.com/gP6ZwCLsnc
Balde has literally given Jude Bellingham the lead in the race for the Golden Boy with his comment back in May about loathing Taylor Swift’s music.
According to DailyMail, Jude Bellingham’s vote share climbed from 30 percent to 89 percent between 5 pm and midnight. It appears that Jude Bellingham might have a smooth sail to victory, despite both contestants’ strong claim to the award.
Barcelona wonderkid’s Taylor Swift comments drew Swifties ire
Jude Bellingham and Alejandro Balde are some of the contenders for the Golden Boy award. The recipient of this award is usually decided through a poll; football fans put it to a vote, deciding who the next Golden Boy will be. Some previous Golden Boy Award winners include Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Lionel Messi, and Gavi, the current holder.
Despite being one of the candidates for the award, Barcelona star Alejandro Balde has unknowingly negatively influenced the poll against his interests through his blunt comments on Taylor Swift’s music. When asked if he likes Taylor Swift’s music, Alejandro Balde stated emphatically, “Do I like Taylor Swift? No, I don’t like her music.”.
Taylor Swift fans have created a movement on social media to vote for Jude Bellingham in the fan vote of the Golden Boy 2023, for Bellingham to be ahead of Alejandro Balde… Following Balde's viral comments saying he doesn't like Taylor Swift's music. pic.twitter.com/81c6jS6pdA
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) September 5, 2023
Taylor Swift, with a lot of fans, is a major force in pop culture. Balde’s comment on her music will certainly not go down well with her fanbase. The Barcelona youngster’s remark has sparked a response from Taylor Swift’s fans, redirecting their focus towards the Golden Boy poll and rallying behind Jude Bellingham, a Real Madrid youngster who has now surged ahead in the Golden Boy race.
According to Sportskeeda, journalist Martin Manin reports that the remark has generated an impressive surge of support for Bellingham, with over 100,000 votes in his favor. He noted that these votes flooded in within minutes of the comments going viral, and it took a mere seven minutes for the vote count to soar.
Who do you think should win the Golden Boy? Let us know your opinions in the comments.
