England star Jude Bellingham may require ‘operation’ amid ‘fears’ over long-term injury
Real Madrid ‘fear’ that England superstar Jude Bellingham will have to undergo surgery on a shoulder problem after Euro 2024, according to reports.
Bellingham has blown hot and cold for the Three Lions at the European Championship but scored a tournament-saving goal against Slovakia in the round of 16.
With a minute of normal time left, the Real Madrid sensation popped up to equalise with a bicycle kick before Harry Kane’s winner in extra time.
He was also the only scorer in England’s opening fixture against Serbia, which ultimately won Gareth Southgate’s side the group and helped them end up on a more favourable side of the draw.
Southgate switched things up for the quarter-final against Switzerland, moving from a back four to a back three, which has resulted in a massive improvement.
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England are now finalists after beating the Netherlands 2-1 on Wednesday and will face Spain in Berlin on Sunday.
However, in the build-up to the colossal fixture, it has been reported that Bellingham could be forced to undergo surgery after the tournament.
According to reports in Spain, Real Madrid ‘will check Bellingham’s shoulder after Euro 2024 and an operation is feared’.
The former Borussia Dortmund and Birmingham City player ‘continues to feel pain’ and while Los Blancos are eager to avoid the operating room ‘at all costs’, it is not being ruled out to ‘solve the problem definitively’.
Surgery will likely rule Bellingham out for the first two months of Madrid’s season but will be beneficial in the long term.
The England forward has been using painkillers and using shoulder pads to help combat the discomfort after getting injured on November 5 in a La Liga match versus Rayo Vallecano.
The ‘bad fall’ is still affecting Bellingham and after playing through it for the last eight months, ‘more and more voices are advocating an operation’.
Thankfully for England fans, there are no doubts over Bellingham’s availability for the Euro 2024 final.
Speaking after the dramatic victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday, the 21-year-old said “we’ll give it everything” and explained why winning the European Championship would bring a “weird” feeling.
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Beating Spain would cap a remarkable campaign for Bellingham after winning La Liga and the Champions League in his first season at Real Madrid, where he was also named player of the year in the Spanish top flight – with a Euro 2024 title likely to make him a shoo-in for the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
“What a season,” he told BBC Radio 5Live.
“My old club (Borussia Dortmund) in the Champions League final and then the country that I play in in the European Championship final.
“So, a weird one, obviously I know a lot of the players well, they have had an amazing tournament. But I’m always confident in the ability and the characters that we have in our changing room, so it’ll be interesting game to go toe to toe with them.”
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