Marca: Bellingham recovers from shoulder injury, England midfielder s return to peak is just around the corner

October 16th "Marca" wrote an article commenting on Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham's recent performance, believing that the Englishman's shoulder injury has recovered and that the player's return to the top is just around the corner.

Bellingham performed amazingly in his debut season at Real Madrid. He scored five goals in the first four La Liga games of the 2023/2024 season and four goals in the first five games of the Champions League. Since losing Benzema in the summer of 2023, the club has introduced the England international, who had just turned 20 at the time, as a new fulcrum on the offensive end. Moreover, head coach Carlo Ancelotti found the position that best suited Bellingham and gave full play to his scoring ability from behind.

Bellingham's first season was brilliant for him and Real Madrid, with the team winning five of six possible titles, including La Liga and the Champions League. However, something happened during this season that has troubled Bellingham for nearly two years.

On November 5, 2023, during the match against Rayo Vallecano, Bellingham accidentally fell while trying to put pressure on his opponent, causing an injury to his left shoulder, but he persisted in completing the entire game. After the game, the injury was downplayed, as if it was all a false alarm.

It turns out that the injured shoulder has been bothering Bellingham, and he has to wear bulky protective gear to protect the damaged joint. Even so, Bellingham's statistics in his first season were still very good: 23 goals and 13 assists in 42 games. That honor-filled season saw him close to the Ballon d'Or, finishing third behind Rodri and Vinicius.

In the summer of 2024, Bellingham's left shoulder problem has not been resolved, and the European Cup will be held immediately after the club competition. Bellingham once again shone in this tournament, becoming one of England's best players, although England lost to Spain in the final.

Real Madrid's performance declined in the 2024/2025 season, but Bellingham's data is still good: 15 goals and 15 assists in 58 games. The entire season lasts until July, as the team participates in the Club World Cup. Bellingham became increasingly uncomfortable with a shoulder injury, and after losing to Paris in the semifinals, he finally decided to undergo surgery to completely resolve the shoulder problem.

Bellingham underwent surgery in London on July 17. The expected recovery time was three months, but he successfully shortened it to two months. At the Valdebebas base, the coaching staff had to stop Bellingham, who was eager to return to training with the team, because he felt that he had fully recovered and was not feeling any discomfort. After making just three appearances for a total of 20 minutes, Alonso started him in the Madrid derby. However, not only did Bellingham perform poorly, the entire team also suffered a humiliating defeat.

After that game, Alonso returned to his original plan. Bellingham came on as a substitute again against Kairat Almaty and Villarreal. Among them, against Huang Qian, Bellingham showed the same state as in his first year at Real Madrid, agile, active and close to scoring.

This Wednesday, in a training match against Castilla, Bellingham shined again. Now, the most difficult thing is to carry this form into official matches, and Real Madrid believes that this is getting closer.