England boss Thomas Tuchel creates Real Madrid divide with Jude Bellingham decision

Real Madrid don't understand why Jude Bellingham was called up by Thomas Tuchel for the latest England squad if he wasn't going to play, reports Marca.

Bellingham has suffered with a couple of injuries this season, which have kept him out of action in club and international football. Earlier on in the campaign, his shoulder injury saw him sidelined for a period, during which he missed England games against Andorra and Serbia.

He was then not picked for the next international break, where England played Wales, but he then returned to the Three Lions squad, playing World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania in November.

Bellingham was then sidelined with a hamstring injury which saw him miss multiple games for Real, but he was deemed fit enough to be selected by England for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

Bellingham wasn't actually in the squad for the draw against Uruguay, and while he was named on the bench against Japan, he never came on.

As a result, Marca reports Real do not understand why Bellingham was called up, as he was fit but never called upon.

Further to that, it's said Real believe the star midfielder would have benefitted from more training in Madrid, which he could have had had he not been taken by England to simply sit on the bench.

Bellingham ready to return to top level

Bellingham has played just once for Real since returning from his hamstring injury, and between that and his earlier shoulder injury, he's struggled to find his best form, scoring just six goals and assisting four more all season. That comes after a 14-goal and 13-assist season in club football in 2024-25.

Bellingham is aware that he managed recovery from his shoulder injury wrong, but is ready to return to a good level now.

He said: "In my last season at Dortmund, at the beginning they already told me that I had to have surgery on my shoulder after a bad fall. I knew something was wrong, but it was August-September and the World Cup was in December, so I didn't have surgery. Then I started to feel fine. When I arrived at Madrid, I had no pain.

"It all started on the day of the match against Rayo [Vallecano]. It was the most painful sensation I had experienced up to that moment; I had never felt so much pain. It seemed to me that it took an eternity until they put it back in place, and it was only 90 seconds from the time they entered the field until it was in place. Before, I was able to put it back in place myself when it came out.

"Everyone was telling me that I had to have surgery, but it was my first year at Real Madrid and I didn't want to let the team down and be out for three months. The shoulder injury had a big impact on the rest of my body. I didn't feel much pain, but playing knowing that if I fell I could dislocate it again meant that I couldn't perform at my best.

"After losing the Euro final against Spain, I didn't want that to be my last involvement for three months, but that would have been the best time to have surgery. I decided to go on for another year and I shouldn't have done it.

"Last year made me realise that I couldn't take it for granted that I would win again. Now I'm in better physical shape and I can get back to my level."