Jude Bellingham insists he is rediscovering his love for the game after enduring a torrid few months which culminated in him being dropped by England boss Thomas Tuchel.
The Real Madrid star returned to goalscoring form and produced the decisive moment in last night’s 1-0 Champions League win over Juventus.
Bellingham missed the start of the new season after undergoing shoulder surgery and suffered the ignominy of missing out on being included in Tuchel’s most recent England squad.
The German intends to speak to Bellingham in between now and the November games against Serbia and Albania, with a view to him possibly being recalled.
He said recently: ‘I guess so. Why not? Of course, he’s an important player, he’s a big player.
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‘I will speak to a lot of players, also to the guys that will get a text from me, who were not in camp, especially them.
‘Because these guys who are now here, they have the reward and they feel the reward.
‘And it’s now necessary also that I stay in touch with the other guys.
‘No one has done anything wrong. It’s not a punishment or whatever and I feel when I text them and I speak to them, that everyone is eager to come back and this is how it has to be.
‘So there are a lot of guys out there who would deserve to be with us.’
The noise around Bellingham’s absence was heightened as it came on the back of Tuchel having to apologise after mistakenly saying in an interview that his mother found the midfielder ‘repulsive’.
Bellingham gave the England boss a timely reminder of his qualities last night with a typical poacher’s effort to ensure Real recorded their third straight win in the competition.
Afterwards he said: ‘I’ve had shoulder surgery, dropped with the national team… It’s nice to have that moment where you can come back and enjoy playing your football.’
He added: ‘It’s an incredible feeling. I haven’t scored in a long time. I dream of that moment in the Champions League against a great team and scoring the winning goal. It’s incredible.
‘Here at home, obviously in my first start of the season, I felt very comfortable, I felt very good, and I enjoyed it a lot, to be honest.
‘Playing well is important, but scoring the winning goal also helps the team a lot. I’m very happy. It’s a great night.’