Jude Bellingham has released a revealing documentary on his YouTube channel, offering viewers unprecedented access to his shoulder operation at Fortius Clinic in London last July.
The seven-minute film, titled ‘Jude – Under The Knife’, takes audiences inside the operating theatre where the Real Madrid midfielder underwent a two-hour procedure on July 16, 2025.
The footage shows the 22-year-old England international wearing an anaesthesia mask before being put to sleep.
Images of him unconscious and surrounded by medical staff with his shoulder fully immobilised were also shown in the video.
Surgeon Andy Wallace was seen discussing the procedure with Bellingham prior to the operation.
The injury’s roots stretch back more than three years to Bellingham’s time at Borussia Dortmund.
He first damaged his left shoulder at the beginning of the 2022-23 campaign with the German side.
Rather than going under the knife immediately, the midfielder chose to postpone surgery to remain available for the Qatar World Cup that winter, where he became England’s youngest ever goalscorer at the tournament.
Jude Bellingham has released a revealing documentary on his YouTube channel
|
YOUTUBE/JUDEBELLINGHAM
A pattern of repeated dislocations followed during his subsequent seasons at Real Madrid, occurring in both 2023 and 2024.
The operation was finally scheduled for a week after Los Blancos’ elimination from the Club World Cup last summer.
Bellingham described the psychological toll of living with the unstable joint.
He said: “It’s the most anxious I’ve been about anything, the hardest feeling I’ve had before something.”
Jude Bellingham offered viewers unprecedented access to his shoulder operation at Fortius Clinic in London last July
|
YOUTUBE/JUDEBELLINGHAM
The constant uncertainty weighed heavily on him. “It’s the instability of knowing that if I land funny, it can always come out,” he explained.
One particularly traumatic episode occurred against Rayo Vallecano in November 2023, which he called “probably the most painful thing I’ve been through at the time.”
The shoulder remained dislocated and he was unable to reset it himself as he had managed previously.
“It felt like an eternity before the physios got it back in,” Bellingham recalled, though the actual duration was 90 seconds.
Jude Bellingham will be a key player for England at the upcoming World Cup
| Getty
The prolonged use of a protective brace took a significant toll on other areas of Bellingham’s body.
He said: “Wearing the brace means that other parts of my body have to compensate for the lack of use that my shoulder can do.”
This compensation led to serious consequences, with the midfielder revealing he suffered a herniated disc on the same side as his injured shoulder after experiencing debilitating back pain.
Now recovered, Bellingham expressed optimism about his future.
He added: “Being back to my best physically will aid all that into coming into one and seeing the best of me, hopefully.”
