THOMAS TUCHEL issued a grovelling apology to Jude Bellingham for claiming the Real Madrid Galactico can be seen as ‘repulsive’.
The England boss has admitted Bellingham was upset by the furore caused by a talkSPORT interview he gave in June, the day after England were stuffed 3-1 at home by Senegal.
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Tuchel had said that his mother found some of Bellingham’s on-field antics ‘repulsive’ – but the German claimed he had used the wrong word, using the fact that English is his second language as an excuse.
He said: “The headlines caused upset of course, for Jude. And I’m sorry for that.
“I used the wrong word in my second language. That makes it my responsibility and of course it’s an upset for the player.
“I hope it is sorted now. When I was aware of the headlines I made contact with him straight away but I didn’t then speak to him at the Club World Cup.
“I used this word unintentionally. Just to make that very clear. There was no message, there was no hidden agenda.
“I fully understand that it’s my responsibility that I created these headlines. I’m sorry for the upset.
“I was sorry and I am sorry for the upset and for the headlines. I am experienced enough. I should have known better. I should have done better.
“If someone makes the effort to listen to the whole answer he would clearly understand the appreciation that I have and the affection I have for the player.
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“I did the interview in the morning after a loss, after not a lot of sleep. I did it in a live interview and used the wrong word. I didn’t want to use this word and I created the upset.
“Jude knows and knew before how much I appreciate him and what his strengths are.”
Tuchel’s unusually fulsome apology is indicative of how sensitively England’s star player has to be handled by the FA.
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Bellingham is recovering from shoulder surgery so was not included in the squad Tuchel named for World Cup qualifiers against Andorra at Villa Park next Saturday and Serbia in Belgrade the following Tuesday.
His Real Madrid team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold has been axed from Tuchel’s squad, with debut call-ups for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson and Tottenham full-back Djed Spence.
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