Bellingham races against time, constantly practicing to contribute to the national team and Real Madrid

Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis have received their first senior international call-ups from England boss Gareth Southgate, who will make the decision regarding Jude Bellingham’s fitness on Tuesday morning.

In addition, Southgate has selected center defender Ezri Konsa of Aston Villa for the first time in preparation for Friday’s Euro qualifier against Malta and Monday’s match against North Macedonia.

Following Real Madrid’s announcement that their midfield player would miss the next two weeks due to a shoulder issue, Bellingham reported to St George’s Park on Monday. There, medical professionals will assess his condition before he trains on Tuesday.

Bellingham, 20, may remain at the team’s training facility to complete some of his rehabilitation before traveling back to Spain if England determines he is unable to play in the last Euro 2024 qualifiers, according to Southgate. 

This is the second-to-last camp before Southgate chooses his Germany 2024 side, and he thinks it will help his players to stay together for team training before the competition takes place in the summer.

Despite missing time due to injuries, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, and Bellingham all joined and stayed with the team this year.

Levi Colwill, a defender for Chelsea, is doubtful to play after he reported discomfort in his shoulder socket, which resulted in him missing Sunday’s 4–4 tie with Manchester City.

Following the ιnjury-related withdrawal of James Maddison, Lewis Dunk, and Callum Wilson from the team, Palmer, Lewis, and Konsa were called up.

Due to his constant performances in the center of Aston Villa’s defense, Konsa has been a target for Southgate for a long time.

Before their Euro 2025 qualifiers against Serbia and Northern Ireland, Lee Carsley’s Under 21s will make substitutions for Palmer and Lewis in an effort to help the reigning champions recover from their shоcking loss to Ukrаine last month.

Despite the fact that England has already qualified for the Euros, Southgate intends to have formidable sides in their matches against Malta and North Macedonia since his team needs two wins to guarantee a seeding in the competition held in the summer. If they were seeded, they would get to skip over teams like Germany and France in the group stages.

As the hosts, Germany is automatically seeded first, with five additional berths up for grabs for the top qualifiers. 

France, Belgium, Portugal, Slovenia, and Denmark have accrued more points than England, who have only collected 16 points from six matches, going into the final round of qualifying. However, a few of those teams have participated in more games than England.

Since Slovenia and Denmark are in the same group, England should be able to claim the top seed with victories over North Macedonia and Malta. Furthermore, England’s goal differential is higher than that of both Romania and Turkey, both of whom have 16 points.

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Although Southgate’s team has already started looking at hotels and training camps in Germany, the FA won’t decide on their headquarters until after the December 2 draw in Hamburg.

During the two previous tournaments he has managed outside of England, the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar, Southgate has favored to remain in isolated areas away from spectators and other city center distractions.