What has happened to Jude Bellingham? England's new icon looks a shadow of his Real Madrid best at Euro 2024

There has been a clear drop off from the Serbia game, when Bellingham took 90 touches and completed 67 of the 70 passes he attempted. Against Denmark he took 63 touches and completed 41 of 44 passes.

He was slightly more involved against Slovenia, with 70 touches and 57 passes attempted. But he was far sloppier, misplacing eight balls. And unlike in his previous two outings. he had no impact at all in attack, making no key passes and having no shots.

"He’s had a bad night. Having had a great opening game, he’s struggled since," said Gary Lineker on 'The Rest Is Football' podcast."

As in the first two games, Bellingham looked to interchange positions with Phil Foden throughout. And while this tactic worked in his favour and against the Manchester City star in the Serbia match, the opposite has occurred since.

Foden was the big disappointment in England's opening game, but has looked steadily brighter and was the Three Lions' standout player against Slovenia until Cole Palmer was brought on. And his resurgence seems to have come at Bellingham's expense.

"Foden was playing there, but then he was switching with Bellingham and I don’t think that really helped either of them in a way, because they were neither here nor there," added Lineker.

"I think he [Gareth Southgate]'s spoken to Bellingham and Foden and said, ‘Right, OK, you keep swapping. One goes left and then one goes in the 10’. But that’s a strange thing to do, isn’t it, throughout the whole game? I don’t think that really helped either of them in a way, because they were neither here nor there."

The Slovenia game led to more discussions about whether Bellingham and Foden are compatible with each other, reminiscent of the debate surrounding Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard from two decades ago.

Rather like Sven-Goran Eriksson back then, Southgate has shirked what would have been a huge decision to drop one of the two star players. But calls are growing for him to take either Bellingham or Foden out in the knockout stage so that England can play with a natural left winger and finally get the most out of their array of attacking talent.

And while it seemed unthinkable to drop Bellingham just 10 days ago, now Foden has overtaken him in the running. As it turns out, Foden may not be available for selection for the last-16 game against Slovakia as he has returned home to attend the birth of his child and is due back on the same day as the game.

But if he is available, Southgate could still select Foden along with Bellingham, and given his propensity to stick to his original plan, it would be no huge surprise if he did. But given Foden will have been out of the rhythm of training for a few days, that would be a gamble in itself.

So Bellingham should have the chance to reassert his place in the team without having to accommodate Foden. But there is a concern that Bellingham is fading just as the tournament reaches its most pivotal stage.

Part of what made the midfielder's performance against Serbia so compelling to watch was his body language, his desire to charge into challenges and play all over the pitch. He has struggled to maintain that intensity in the last two games, although he has not stopped trying to cover every blade of grass. And he would be advised to tone that side of his game down if he wants to recover the energy levels he needs to match his earlier form.

"I think he chases lost causes a lot," said Lineker. “Sometimes, you can see him sprinting. I understand why because he’s so determined to help the team but I think sometimes you’ve got to reserve your energy a little bit. But that’s experience. He’s only 20."

Bellingham's blip in form could also be the inevitable result of a draining season for Real Madrid at full intensity after playing a crucial role in Los Merengues sweeping to the double of La Liga and the Champions League. Bellingham played 3,645 minutes in all competitions for Madrid, the fourth-highest amount in the squad, only bettered by Federico Valverde, Antonio Rudiger and Rodrygo.

His relentless season with Madrid followed a career that had already been played at an unforgiving pace. Bellingham made his professional debut barely one month after his 16th birthday, and before he had turned 20 had accumulated almost 15,000 minutes in competitive senior matches. To put that into perspective, Wayne Rooney had played 10,989 minutes at that stage of his career while Frank Lampard had played 3,477. David Beckham had played fewer than 1000 minutes at the same stage.

Bellingham also sustained two injuries last season, neither of which were insignificant. The midfielder dislocated his shoulder against Rayo Vallecano in November, sidelining him for 21 days. He returned to form instantly, scoring four goals and adding two assists in his next six games, but it has been revealed that the injury has continued to affect him and he may have to undergo surgery on the shoulder once the Euros are over.

He also sprained his ankle against Girona in February, leading to him missing a month's action. When he returned to the pitch, there was some drop off from his frenetic, record-breaking start to life with Madrid as he scored three goals and registered five assists in his final 13 matches of the season. In his first 29 games, he scored 20 goals while setting up a further five.

So it should be no surprise that Bellingham has hit a snag in the road and has slowed down a couple of notches. The midfielder's rise from the Championship to being a serious contender to win the Ballon d'Or has been so breathtaking that it has felt as if he is made of different material to other English stars that have come before him.

His brief blip in performances in Germany does not alter the fact that Bellingham truly is one of a kind, a generational talent who has already left his mark on the game and could dominate it for the next decade. But he is still human and governed by the same biological imitations that every athlete faces.

Bellingham has done so well partly because of the way he pays attention to every aspect of the game, from the way he has mastered every midfield position to the way he looks after himself, adapts to new surroundings and even the way he deals with the media.

But he also must manage his work load, both in games and over a season. England and Real Madrid have a role to play here too, although no one wants to be the manager to rotate Bellingham, even if it is for his own good and to the team's long-term benefit. But Southgate and Bellingham need to think carefully how to manage his workload so that the displays in Frankfurt and Cologne do not turn into a trend.

England want and need to see more of the swaggering, domineering Bellingham that appeared in Gelsenkirchen when they return to the city on Sunday, as he holds the key to taking them all the way to the final in Berlin and to that elusive first international trophy in 58 years.