Real Madrid Fuming at Tuchel Over Bellingham's Fruitless England Camp

Real Madrid have reportedly taken issue with Thomas Tuchel's decision to bring Jude Bellingham into the England fold for the recent friendly internationals against Uruguay and Japan, viewing the midfielder's inclusion as a waste of time that merely raised more questions than it answered.

The 22-year-old has been restricted to just 15 La Liga starts for Los Blancos this campaign, sidelined on two occasions by serious injuries. Shoulder trouble ruled him out of England's two camps in late 2025, yet Tuchel still opted to summon him for what would be his final squad assembly before World Cup selection—this despite Bellingham having only recently recovered from a hamstring setback.

His most recent outing for Madrid came in a brief appearance during the derby day win over Atletico Madrid a fortnight prior to linking up with the Three Lions. While training proved productive during the international window, Bellingham remained an unused squad member throughout both encounters, watching from the sidelines as England drew 1-1 with Uruguay before succumbing 1-0 to Japan.

When pressed on his rationale for keeping Bellingham on the bench, Tuchel outlined his thinking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "I think it's too much of a risk. So, the tendency is that he will not play. We have all gained from him being part of it. He was excellent in training, but he was involved as a neutral player. He was involved in not the whole 100 per cent of the training. So, it looked very, very good but we're still holding him back, to not take a risk. The injury is a muscle, it's a very particular one, and we absolutely don't want the re-injury in this moment of the season. And him as well, it was very good that he was in camp. He was excellent. But the tendency is that he won't play."

Spanish media outlet Marca has reported Madrid's displeasure, characterising the trip as pointless and suggesting it created more confusion than clarity. The implication is that Madrid would have preferred Bellingham to feature for England in order to sharpen his match fitness ahead of La Liga's clash with Mallorca on Saturday and a Champions League showdown with Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.

The situation presents a peculiar paradox: whilst Madrid view Bellingham's squad inclusion as superfluous, the flip side—had Tuchel actually deployed him in competitive action before full recovery—would almost certainly have provoked an equally heated response from the Spanish giants.