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World Cup winner Christoph Kramer reveals he was left ‘broken’ by a surprise shirt swap snub from England star Jude Bellingham. The pair met in the Bundesliga, with Bellingham playing for Borussia Dortmund at the time. Bellingham is known for his kind-hearted gestures on and off the pitch. At Euro 2024, he received plenty of plaudits for consoling Manuel Akanji after the Man City man missed a penalty against England. The pair then swapped shirts. He is a popular choice for post-game shirt swaps, with his popularity on the rise since making a senior breakthrough with Birmingham at 16 years old. Bellingham joined Borussia Dortmund in July 2020, and in his first appearance became their youngest goalscorer. Over three seasons at Dortmund, he made 132 appearances and won the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal and he won the Bundesliga Player of the Season award for 2022-23. Kramer was on the books at Borussia Monchengladbach when he asked Bellingham to swap shirts post-match. Although, he was left red-faced by an embarrassing snub. The 33-year-old midfielder told the Copa TS podcast: “I asked, ‘Can I have your jersey? ’ “He heard it, he also looked at me briefly, then went straight ahead and patted me on the shoulder. “So much honour and so much pride was broken in me. ” A truly uncharacteristic move from Bellingham given he has swapped shirts so many times in the past. Bellingham has since swapped Germany for Spain, having moved to Real Madrid in 2023. Bellingham signed a six-year contract and cost Madrid £88million. The 21-year-old marked his debut, in August 2023, with a goal from a corner kick in a 2–0 La Liga win away to Athletic Bilbao. In his first season, he was the club's top league scorer, helping them win the league title and the Champions League. This year he was voted La Liga Player of the Season and finished 3rd for the Ballon d'Or. Following Liverpool’s recent win over Real Madrid in the Champions League, with goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo, TNT Sports cameras captured Bellingham patiently waiting outside Liverpool's changing room. He could be seen chatting to two other Madrid figures, but as soon as Ryan Gravenberch walks past, Bellingham starts a brief conversation before the Liverpool midfielder disappears into the home dressing room. When Gravenberch re-appears, he hands over a Trent Alexander-Arnold shirt to Bellingham, who gives a shirt in return. England teammates Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold are close friends. It appeared the Madrid midfielder was requesting on behalf of the club staff stood alongside him. Kramer may have had his pride hurt by Bellingham’s refusal but it sounds like he was just unlucky. Real Madrid are in action this evening when they take on Pachuca in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup. © 2024 talk SPORT Limited
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