Revealed: Jude Bellingham asked to be left out of latest England squad after surprise exclusion by Thomas Tuchel

Bellingham was supposed to remain sidelined until the end of October after he underwent surgery on his shoulder in August. However, the midfielder returned to action ahead of schedule and featured for the club in their last two La Liga clashes against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid. But once Tuchel announced the latest England squad on Friday, Bellingham's name was missing alongside Jack Grealish, who has returned to form since moving to Everton on loan from Manchester City. Arsenal star Bukayo Saka, on the other hand, returned to the Three Lions' roster. 

Now, Marca reports that it was Bellingham who had asked Tuchel to leave him out of the squad for the qualifiers against Wales and Latvia later this month. The report adds that while Bellingham featured against Atletico and played in the Madrid derby last weekend, he felt some discomfort and realised that he is not 100 per cent match fit yet. As a result, he requested Tuchel not to include him in his team for the October games. 

Marca also claims that Bellingham will work on his recovery in Madrid during the international break and do a "mini pre-season" under Xabi Alonso during those two weeks. The England camp understands Bellingham's situation and have given their green signal to stay with Los Blancos as they felt that forcing the player could prove to “counter-productive”.

Tuchel’s men will play a friendly against neighbours Wales on October 9, with that contest taking place at Wembley Stadium. The two sides last met at the 2022 World Cup, with England emerging victorious in the last seven meetings between a couple of old adversaries - with Wales’ last success coming back in 1984. England will then head to Latvia for their latest World Cup qualifier on October 14.