Jude Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold are AXED from Real Madrid 2026 calendar

JUDE BELLINGHAM will hope he has better days ahead after Real Madrid dumped him from their 2026 calendar.

It is a bizarre move by the Spanish giants and will set tongues wagging about the future of the 22-year-old midfielder, who was also overlooked by England boss Thomas Tuchel for the current international camp.

Bellingham featured prominently on the front cover of the 2025 Real Madrid calendar and took centre-stage as Mr August.

But next year’s £10.99 edition has no sign of him.

And there is also no room for Trent Alexander-Arnold, signed from Liverpool in the ­summer for £8.7million as his contract ran down.

Players to have got the nod ahead of the England pair on the front cover include Dean Huijsen, the £50million centre-back signing from Bournemouth, and 20-year-old Turkish starlet Arda Guler.

On the month-by-month pages inside, long-serving Dani Carvajal, 33, and 27-year-old Eder Militao are among those to get the nod.

Birmingham-born Bellingham has seen his guaranteed starting place for Real placed in jeopardy since returning from shoulder surgery last month.

And Three Lions manager Tuchel claimed that he “lacked rhythm” before omitting him from England’s squad for their matches against Wales last Thursday and Latvia on Tuesday.

Bellingham and Real were contacted for comment.

The former Borussia Dortmund star has only started one game for Madrid since his return from injury in September.

Boss Xabi Alonso picked him for the shock 5-2 defeat to rivals Atletico Madrid but he's come on as a sub in the next two games.

The Spaniard claimed before the Atletico game that he "needed" Bellingham in his team and was looking forward to having the player fully fit again.

He said: "I need his flexibility and versatility. Some players are more static, and Jude is not one of them."

Bellingham was a surprise omission for England's recent internationals but Tuchel claimed his lack of fitness at Madrid was a decisive factor.

The German said: "Jude is a very special player and for special players there can be special rules but for this camp, we thought to stick with our decision to stick with the same team.

"There is an extra layer in that he has not fully gathered rhythm and has not finished a full match until now and has only started one match."

He insisted he was a big fan of Bellingham but needed to assess his other options in the event the player was unavailable in the future.

Tuchel added: "Do I believe we're a stronger team with Jude? Yes. Is he one of the best players in the world in midfield? Yes.

"But what are we doing if a player like Jude is injured before the World Cup? Do we not travel?"