England take on the Republic of Ireland in the Nations League on Saturday evening – but star player Jude Bellingham will have no part to play.
There is much anticipation over how the Three Lions will perform in Lee Carsley’s first match in charge but the interim manager is without several key stars.
Most notably, attacking midfielders Bellingham, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer are not available, the latter two pulling out of the squad due to injury and illness concerns.
But the Real Madrid superstar was not named in the initial 26-man squad for the games against Ireland and Finland.
Why is Jude Bellingham not playing for England?
Unfortunately, Bellingham picked up a muscle injury during Real’s opening La Liga match of the season, a 1-1 draw at Mallorca, back in August.
The 21-year-old has been on the sidelines ever since and had not recovered in time to take part in the Three Lions’ first games of the season.
It’s a big blow as Bellingham is arguably England’s best and one of the world’s best players following his heroic debut campaign with Los Blancos in 2023/24.
He scored 23 goals and made 13 assists across all competitions as his side won La Liga and the Champions League, before playing a key role in England’s run to the Euro 2024 final.
He was named La Liga Player of the Season, UCL Young Player of the Season and is a frontrunner for the Ballon d’Or.
In his absence, Lee Carsley is set to start Jack Grealish against Ireland in the No.10 role ahead of a midfield pivot of Declan Rice and Kobbie Mainoo.
Jude Bellingham’s injury return date
It was expected that the injury would rule Bellingham out for over a month, putting his return at around the end of September.
Some reports now suggest that he could be back a little earlier with Real looking to speed up his rehabilitation and get him on the pitch for the trip to Real Sociedad on September 14.
This comes amid the club’s injury crisis with fellow midfielders Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Aurelien Tchouameni either sidelined or dealing with fitness issues.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side have several tricky fixtures on the horizon including the Madrid derby against Atletico and the start of the Champions League.
It remains to be seen whether Bellingham will be fit in time for these games as well as England’s October fixtures against Greece and Finland.
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