New Delhi: Real Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham is set to miss the start of the season after undergoing successful shoulder surgery. He will also miss England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia in September.
The midfielder has struggled with a shoulder problem after dislocating his shoulder in a game against Rayo Vallecano in 2023 and has played with a brace under his jersey since then. He is expected to miss 12 weeks of action to recover from the surgery.
He opted to hold off the surgery until after the Club World Cup, but the Spanish club scheduled his surgery after they were knocked out by Paris-Saint Germain in the semifinals of the tournament.
“Our player Jude Bellingham has undergone successful surgery today to address recurrent dislocation of his left shoulder. He will now undergo a period of rehabilitation, prior to returning to training and starting his recovery,” said Real Madrid in a statement.
Bellingham joined Madrid from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund and won the Champions League and La Liga title with the Spanish Club, scoring 23 goals in 43 appearances. In the last season, the midfielder scored 15 goals in 58 games but his team lost the league title to Barcelona and were eliminated from the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Arsenal.
Overall, he has played 100 matches for Madrid in all competitions. He has only failed to start in four of those matches and has netted a total of 38 goals, providing 27 assists for Los Blancos since his debut in 2023-24. He has missed just 17 LaLiga matches for Madrid.
How many matches will Bellingham miss for Real Madrid?
According to reports, he is set to miss atleast eight La Liga games and two Champions League games for the Spanish Club. Madrid will open their league campaign against Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabéu on 19 August. He is expected to be available for the first El Clásico of the season at the end of October.