Of all the England players who were left out of Thomas Tuchel's squad for their October fixtures, Jude Bellingham's omission seemed the most confusing. The midfielder has been one of the Three Lions' main protagonists ever since breaking into the starting XI post-Euro 2020 heartbreak and has long been heralded as a key player for whichever team he's representing.
There was, at least, sound enough reasoning not to call upon Bellingham for this international window in particular. After Real Madrid's elimination from the Club World Cup in July, he decided to finally undergo surgery on a long-standing shoulder issue which had been of detriment to his performances all throughout 2024-25. This was expected to result in a period of three months on the sidelines, but such has been the superhuman aura about Bellingham in his short career thus far, he made his return in September, several weeks ahead of schedule.
Bellingham has played five times for Madrid this season, though those appearances have only seen him clock 126 minutes in total, while he has started just once - in their 5-2 defeat to city rivals Atletico. "He has not fully gathered rhythm yet at Real Madrid," Tuchel said at his squad announcement a fortnight ago. "He is back in the team. He hasn't finished one full match until now, he has only started one match, so he is in the period where he gets his rhythm, where he gets back to full strength."
That was, however, one of two reasons why Bellingham didn't make the cut on this occasion. The other ought to at least make the 22-year-old feel a little uncomfortable, but it serves as great news for positional rival and fellow West Midlands native, Morgan Rogers.