With Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Tottenham Hotspur all understood to be interested, the decision to stay with the Three Lions shows that the national job still has immense pull.

“Very soon, I fell in love with the job,” said Tuchel, speaking out about the contract extension. “It’s just a pleasure to extend and try to complete the full cycle of two tournaments.”

But one England star might not be completely behind this huge development.

Arguably England’s biggest talent since Wayne Rooney burst onto the scene over two decades ago, Jude Bellingham dominated headlines last year after Tuchel caused quite a stir by leaving the once undroppable midfielder out of some of their World Cup qualifying matches.

Since making his senior England debut in 2020 at the age of 17, Bellingham has accumulated 44 caps and six goals.

He has featured in two major tournaments, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Euros, where he played a pivotal role.

|

GETTY

Bellingham scored the winner for England against Serbia in their opening match of Euro 2024.

He then proceeded to net a stunning overhead kick to force extra time in a difficult contest against Slovakia, with England eventually going on to make the final before losing to Spain.

But since Tuchel took charge, the relationship between the former Dortmund manager and player has been strained.

The German claimed that his star’s attitude could sometimes come across as “repulsive”, a comment he later apologised for.

| PA

Speaking on the 22-year-old, the coach said: “I see that it can create mixed emotions. I see this with my parents, with my mum, that she sometimes cannot see the nice and well-educated and well-behaved guy that I see, and the smile.

“If he smiles, he wins everyone. But sometimes you see the rage, you see the hunger and the rage and the fire, and it comes out in a way that can be a bit repulsive, for example, for my mother, when she sits in front of the TV. I see that.”

Other players not included in Tuchel’s 2025 selections were Phil Foden and Jack Grealish, who fans argued could be starters for the national side.

The absences came after Bellingham had spent much of the season sidelined with a shoulder injury, but had returned to club level before finding out he was not part of Tuchel’s side.

When the former Birmingham City man got the chance to represent his country once again, an unlikely successor emerged as a serious contender to start in the No. 10 role.

Morgan Rogers, playing in the same city that Bellingham left in July 2020, has shown strong form for Aston Villa in the Premier League and seems to be a key figure in Tuchel’s tactical setup.

Whilst Tuchel clearly values Bellingham’s fiery energy and has previously insisted that maintaining an “edge” is valuable and has no intention of “dimming” the midfielder’s talent, the Real Madrid star is far from a guaranteed starter.

And his warning surrounding Bellingham crossing the line could signal a deeper rift between the pair, one that may only widen now the German has committed to the Three Lions for the foreseeable future.