Jude Bellingham is set to be included in manager Thomas Tuchel’s latest England squad for World Cup qualifiers against Serbia and Albania. Tuchel will announce the names of his latest squad for the Wembley game on Friday morning.
Bellingham has not played for the Three Lions since June and was not a notable member of Tuchel’s side, who defeated Wales in a friendly and sealed their place in next summer’s World Cup with a 5-0 win over Latvia last month. The Real Madrid star is recovering from shoulder surgery and had yet to play a full 90 minutes when Tuchel named him in the squad in October. However, his absence remained a hot topic of discussion.
However, the Guardian reports that manager Tuchel has decided to recall Bellingham to the England squad for this month’s match. His decision came after the midfielder opted not to attend the Real Madrid vs. Liverpool match on Tuesday night.
Asked after the game at Anfield whether he expected to be recalled, Bellingham said: “Unfortunately, it’s not my calling. You know whose calling it is. I want to come back (to the team) but it’s not my calling. I’ll wait. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Tuchel was forced to apologize after incorrectly saying in an interview in June that his mother thought the midfielder’s on-pitch temperament “could be a bit unpleasant”. He also insisted in a speech last month that there were no problems between the two.
“He is a very special player and there can always be special rules for special players,” Tuchel said.
“I understand that. But for this camp, we decided to stick with the simple decision of inviting the same team. That goes for Jude as well. He’s always entitled to camp. He’s always entitled to camp.”
“He wanted a call-up. We talked on the phone. There was nothing wrong with that. He just lacked rhythm.
“He hasn’t pitched a complete game yet, but we still maintained our decision to play on the same team.”
When Tuchel suggested that some might think there were problems between him and Bellingham, he replied:
“There’s no problem between me and Phil Foden. There’s no problem between me and Jack Grealish. He’s a very special player. Phil influenced the game and made a game-defining comeback for Manchester City.”
“Jack is very close to being the best version of himself. He’s a very special player and a very special character. There’s nothing wrong with that and I have no personal issues with the nomination.”
