Jude Bellingham has been dealing with a shoulder injury for over a year that has finally come home to roost.
While at the Santiago Bernabeu for Real Madrid's thrilling 2-1 win over Mallorca in mid-May, The Sporting News heard significant speculation amongst journalists that Bellingham would be heading for surgery at some point in the summer.
First, Marca reported that Bellingham is set for shoulder surgery at some point this summer, either in the immediate future or at the end of the La Liga season. A report from Relevo in Spain corroborated Marca's initial claim that Bellingham will indeed have surgery at some point in the next few months, while adding that the player wants to take care of it as soon as possible but the club would prefer he wait until after this summer's FIFA Club World Cup.
It seemed to be an unspoken expectation among those close to the club that Bellingham was set for surgery in the near future. Following the 3-1 win over Pachuca on June 22, the player himself confirmed he would undergo a procedure to correct the problem with his shoulder.
The Sporting News details why surgery is the best option for Bellingham and how long it would leave him on the periphery.
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Why did Jude Bellingham have shoulder surgery?
Bellingham has been officially dealing with a shoulder injury since first dislocating it with Real Madrid in a 0-0 draw at home against Rayo Vallecano on Nov. 5, 2023.
While he finished that match, he would then miss the next two games, as well as England's two matches that November, which were a pair of Euro 2024 qualifiers.
According to a report by Guillermo Rai of The Athletic in late 2024, nearly a year after the initial injury, Real Madrid believe Bellingham had shoulder issues since he was with Borussia Dortmund before he moved to the La Liga club.
It has been known for decades that once a player dislocates their shoulder, the chance of reinjury skyrockets, and each subsequent dislocation causes the issue to get worse. Often, dislocating a shoulder can cause a tear in the labrum. While this is not as devastating of an injury in football as it is in other sports where arm use is more prominent, it can directly affect a player's performance either through pain or fear of reinjury.
To prevent aggravation, Bellingham has been wearing a special fitted shoulder brace for some time, but it is not foolproof. The Athletic's article from last fall reported that most of the coaching and fitness staff at Real Madrid believed that Bellingham would need surgery at some point to allow the injury to fully heal.
Bellingham finally admitted after the win over Pachuca that it was the issue of the brace that had convinced him to undergo surgery.
"I've got to the point now where the pain isn't so bad," he said. "It's more being fed up with the brace and having to tug on it, having players tug on it and it being rearranged all the time.
"I've got a surgery scheduled for a few days after the tournament, obviously after the final. I'm really happy about that. It's been a long time coming. I think I've come to the end of my patience with the brace. I'm at that point now where I'm ready to have a free shoulder, a free body."
How long will Jude Bellingham be out?
Bellingham's surgery likely leaves him out for a significant period of time.
Initially, it was speculated that labrum surgery would leave Bellingham out of action for at least two months, with some experts putting that number at closer to 12 weeks or even longer depending on how his recovery plays out.
Indeed, that's the number that Cartagena's report indicated, with the ESPN writeup claiming he would be expected to miss around three months.
This means, having undergone surgery after the Club World Cup in mid-July, that Bellingham will miss a solid chunk of the early season, possibly out until mid-October or even November. He would likely also miss key international games through this coming fall which would serve as important tune-up minutes for the 2026 FIFA World Cup the following summer.
However, reports in mid-August claim that Bellingham's recovery is progressing quicker than expected. It's possible that, given this news, he could return in early October or maybe even late September, which would be a boon for Real Madrid.