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Jude Bellingham says he likes playing as a No 10 due to the “freedom” he has on the pitch.

The England international, who joined Real from Borussia Dortmund last summer, has been deployed as a No 10 by manager Carlo Ancelotti this season.

It has resulted in Bellingham having his best goalscoring season at senior level, having netted 23 times in 41 appearances across all competitions.

Bellingham, who has also played as a box-to-box and defensive midfielder in his career, thinks he is at his best when he has the licence to operate in a role that allows him to attack and defend.

He said: “I think what you’ve seen from me this year is a lot of different kind of roles and positions. When I play as a 10, I have the freedom to kind of go everywhere which means I can go deeper, I can create and I can go higher. I think I’m at my best when I have the freedom on the pitch.

“I think it’s important to understand the responsibilities in every position, but I love being with the football, coming on to the box, do stuff around the box and scoring goals are fun.”

The 20-year-old, meanwhile, believes it doesn’t matter that Real are being considered as favourites heading into the Champions League final against Dortmund.

Real go into the game seeking their 15th Champions League title, but Bellingham believes that his former club Dortmund will not care about being considered underdogs.

“I don’t think it really matters,” he added. “I think we beat the favourites against (Manchester) City, we manage to go through and I think Dortmund don’t care who’s the best. We’re going as absolutely equals and we try to win the game based on what we do in the 90 minutes.”

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