Gareth Southgate has given Jude Bellingham the week off to decompress before reporting to his England squad for the Euro 2024 tournament, saying rest was most important for the 20-year-old on the heels of his remarkable LaLiga season.
Bellingham helped Real Madrid to wrap up the league title, and to win the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on Saturday.
Southgate said he did not consider Bellingham’s absence as a sacrifice to himself or the team this week, when they have friendlies against Bosnia & Herzegovina on Monday and Iceland on Friday.
“It’s not the most important thing,” Southgate told reporters on Sunday after England’s training session at Middlesbrough’s ground. “The most important thing for Jude is rest, recovery, and we will benefit from that.
“That’s the constraints of international football,” he added. “We don’t have the players as often as you do at a club to quite be as cohesive. So, you have to work out what are the most important things. And at this moment in time in my opinion for Jude, and therefore for the team, is time to recover and psychologically switch off.”
Bellingham made his England debut at aged 17 and has 29 caps for his country.
Much has changed for the talented midfielder since he was an unused substitute for Southgate’s team in their loss to Italy on penalties in the Euro 2020 final.
On the heels of scoring 23 goals in his debut season for Madrid across all competitions, Bellingham will shoulder much of England’s lofty ambition at the European Championship in Germany.
“He’s had a fantastic season, to join the biggest club in the world and perform in the way he has throughout the season has been an incredible, incredible year for him,” Southgate said. “Absolutely delighted for him to win (Saturday) night.”
Asked how Bellingham might spend his downtime before joining the squad, Southgate joked that he would rather not know, then added that the young player would likely cherish time with family after such a demanding club season.
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