That is because the 22-year-old traded jerseys with Inter-owned defender Kristjan Asllani when making his way off the field. Questions have been asked of why Bellingham agreed to that request, in the middle of a competitive fixture, and why he made the trade in the public eye – rather than waiting until the cover of the tunnel had been reached.
@TCrossland55 was among those left perplexed by Bellingham’s behaviour, posting on social media: “Honestly f*cking can’t stand Bellingham in this England team honestly. Absolute Mr big time swapping shirts at half time, throwing his arms around when he doesn’t get the ball, slowing the game down continuously.” @BJRoute66 added: “Bellingham swapping shirts at half-time???? WTF do it at full time! Stop this nonsense!”
@RickOShea54321 went on to say: “Bellingham swapping shirts with an Albanian player, to act as a distraction from how sh*t England were, in the first half. I see what you’re doing there, Jude.” @Bluemoonie4 chimed in with: “Bellingham is nowhere near as good as he thinks he is.”
Ex-Manchester United star Roy Keane was helping to cover the England game for ITV. He was not asked about the shirt swap on screen, but said back in 2016 after seeing then Chelsea winger Eden Hazard trade jerseys with Angel Di Maria at the half-time break of a Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain: “I’m afraid to comment on this. It’s bad enough at the end of the game, but half-time in a big game, the two guys swapping shirts? It’s shocking. What is going through a player’s mindset? In such a big game, they are thinking about swapping jerseys at half-time! I wouldn’t even bother at the end of the game. Shocking.”
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