Thomas Tuchel drops major hint on reason for DROPPING Jude Bellingham from England squad

Jude Bellingham has been sensationally left out of England’ssquad. And England boss Thomas Tuchelhas effectively admitted that Bellingham has been DROPPED.

Bellingham, 22, has started just one game for Real Madrid since coming back from a shoulder injury and operation in the summer. But it was widely expected for the Real Madrid star to be back in the squad to face Wales and Latvia in this month’s double header.

It also comes just two days after Bellingham was named as the England fans’ Player of the Year so this must be seen as a major shock.

But, tellingly, Tuchel said the last squad - and the 5-0 win in Serbia - set the “standards” and that is a clear message to the likes of Bellingham, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish who all miss out.

“It was only three weeks now since the last camp and the last win, last performance,” he said.

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“The result was an excellent result and even more important, it was well deserved from our performance, so we decided very quickly that we want to reward and everyone and bring the same group back into camp.

“Teamwork and team spirit and team effort was on the highest level throughout the week. I was so glad that the team proved it in the match.

“We had a big win against a strong opponent in a difficult away match, so the question was why not bring the same group in because they set the standards?”

The only two changes for the October fixtures are the return of Bukayo Saka from injury, who replaces club team-mate Noni Madueke. And former Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah coming in for Tino Livramento, with the Newcastle defender out for the next few weeks.

“We have unfortunately two injuries at the moment with Tino [Livramento] and Noni [Madueke] and we bring Bukayo Saka in to replace Noni, and Jarell Quansah was a late call-up last time and he will stay in camp,” explained Tuchel.

“[Saka is] a crucial player for Arsenal. He needs to prove a point because we took some steps in the last camp and I have no doubt that he’s ready for that.”

England squad in full for Wales and Latvia

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guéhi (Crystal Palace), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Myles Lewis-Skelly (Arsenal), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (AC Milan), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, loan from Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

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