Thomas Tuchel apologises to Jude Bellingham after claiming his own mum was 'REPULSED' by Real Madrid star's behaviour

England manager Thomas Tuchel has apologised for saying in June that his own mother can sometimes find Jude Bellingham's behaviour to be 'a bit repulsive'.

Tuchel received criticism for the comments, which were made the day after England's 3-1 defeat to Senegal in a friendly.

The England boss insisted that there were no ill intentions with his comments. 

Tuchel said: 'I used this word unintentionally... there was no message, no hidden agenda.

'I am sorry for the upset, and for the headlines I created.'

It was put to Tuchel in June that England could be better off without Bellingham. 

’I struggle to see that. I think he brings an edge, which we welcome and which is needed if we want to achieve big things,’ the German told talkSPORT.

‘(But) the edge needs to be chanelled toward the opponent, towards our goal and not to intimidate team-mates, or to be over aggressive to team-mates or referees. He has the fire. I don’t want to dim this down. He should play with this kind of fire, that’s his strength.

‘But the fire comes also with some attributes that can intimidate you, maybe even as a team-mate. You see sometimes the explosion towards referees and the anger in his game, so if he can channel this in the right way, and we can help him in this, then for sure he has the something that we need. He has a certain edge that is hard to find.

'But 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. If he smiles, he wins everyone. 

'But sometimes you see 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, but in general we are very happy to have him. He is a special boy. He is a nice kid and very open, very intelligent - and very easy (to manage), so far.’

Bellingham hasn't been included in the latest England squad for the World Cup qualifiers at home to Andorra and away to Serbia as he is recovering from surgery on a shoulder injury.

The Real Madrid star has scored six goals in 43 appearances for England. Despite being just 22 years old he has already featured for his country at three major tournaments.

Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson and Tottenham defender Djed Spence have both received their first callups to the England squad.

However, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker have been left out. 

England have won all three of their World Cup qualifiers so far.