Spain’s top flight has become an unlikely home for English talent over the past few seasons, and the 2025/26 season was no exception. Jude Bellingham continued to build his legend at Real Madrid, Trent Alexander-Arnold arrived in the Spanish capital with sky-high expectations, and Marcus Rashford rebuilt his career on loan at Barcelona. All three then carried that form into a World Cup campaign that ended in bronze for England. As the new season begins, though, the picture has shifted; Rashford is back at Manchester United, Anthony Gordon has arrived in his place at Camp Nou, and Real Madrid have turned to Jose Mourinho to try to wrestle the title back from Barcelona.
Here’s how the English contingent’s 2025/26 season went, and what to expect from Bellingham, Alexander-Arnold and Gordon in 2026/27 in Spain.
Jude Bellingham: Real Madrid’s talisman, even in a losing cause
Bellingham’s fourth season in Madrid didn’t bring the trophies he’s used to. Barcelona won a second successive La Liga title, sealing it with a 2-0 win over Real Madrid in a title-deciding Clásico in May. But Bellingham’s individual output stayed strong: 6 goals and 4 assists in 28 league appearances, with his underlying numbers (a non-penalty xG in the 90th percentile for La Liga midfielders) suggesting he remained one of the division’s most dangerous attacking midfielders even as Madrid stuttered around him.
It was a turbulent year behind the scenes, too. Real Madrid sacked Xabi Alonso mid-season after less than eight months in charge, promoted youth coach Álvaro Arbeloa on an interim basis, and finished the campaign trophyless in the league. Now they have appointed José Mourinho again to lead Real Madrid.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: A debut season disrupted by injury
If Bellingham’s season was about weathering Real Madrid’s inconsistency, Alexander-Arnold’s was about simply staying fit. His first year in Spain, after leaving Liverpool as a free agent in the summer of 2025, was hit by three separate injuries:
- A muscle injury in pre-season that delayed his start
- A hamstring injury suffered just five minutes into his Champions League debut against Marseille, which ruled him out for around six weeks and meant he missed Real Madrid’s first-ever Clásico meeting of the season
- A thigh injury that kept him out for two months over the winter (December to February)
The net result: just 21 La Liga appearances, 0 goals and 2 assists. A modest return for a marquee €10 million-plus signing, though the underlying story is more about fitness than form. Notably, his stop-start season and struggles for rhythm were enough that he — along with Bellingham, at a different point in the year — was left out of a Real Madrid squad list during the campaign, a sign of how unsettled things became at the club.
Marcus Rashford: Barcelona’s breakout story of the season
Of the three, Rashford’s season was the standout redemption arc. Having fallen out of favour at Manchester United under Rubén Amorim, he joined Barcelona on a season-long loan and immediately looked reborn under Hansi Flick. Across La Liga, he finished with 8 goals and 7 assists in 32 appearances, and his numbers climbed further once Champions League and cup contributions were added in — reports had him around 12 goals and 10 assists (and later even higher) across all competitions by season’s end.
Two moments defined his year:
- A Champions League brace away at Newcastle, scoring twice in a 2-1 win at his old Premier League stomping ground — a viral, full-circle moment for a player supporters back home had written off.
- The free-kick that sealed the title. In Barcelona’s title-clinching Clásico win at the Bernabéu, Rashford opened the scoring with a stunning free-kick that flew past Thibaut Courtois, helping confirm Barça’s second straight league crown.
Despite the on-pitch success, Barcelona ultimately let their €30m buy-option on Rashford lapse in June 2026, choosing instead to spend big on Anthony Gordon. Rashford is now back at Manchester United for pre-season, with his long-term future still unresolved as of this writing.
How they did at the World Cup
England reached the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup before losing 2-1 to Argentina, then beat France 6-4 in a thrilling third-place play-off.
Bellingham was England’s best player of the tournament. He finished with seven goals, a new high for an England player at a single World Cup, surpassing the previous benchmark of six shared by Gary Lineker (1986) and Harry Kane (2018). His highlights included braces in the last-16 win over Mexico and in extra time against Norway in the quarter-final, plus a stoppage-time goal in the bronze medal match against France. Three of his goals were match-defining, coming when the scores were level or England were behind.
Jude Bellingham has been named in the @FIFAWorldCup #DreamXI ✨
Well deserved, @BellinghamJude 👏
— England (@England) July 22, 2026
Anthony Gordon had a strong tournament, too, even though his route through it wasn’t straightforward. He started as first-choice left winger, lost his place for the group games against Panama and DR Congo (with Rashford preferred), then forced his way back in with two assists off the bench against DR Congo. From there he was arguably England’s best player for long spells against Mexico, added another assist against Norway, and was excellent for an hour against Argentina in the semi-final, where he also scored England’s goal in the 2-1 defeat.
Rashford also featured, scoring against Croatia in the group stage (85th minute) and starting ahead of Gordon for two of the group games, though he ultimately lost his place in the front line as the tournament progressed.
Alexander-Arnold, by contrast, wasn’t even in the squad. Thomas Tuchel left him out entirely, alongside other high-profile names like Phil Foden and Cole Palmer. A notable snub after his injury-hit club season, and a reminder of how differently his year had gone compared to his Real Madrid teammate.
What to expect in 2026/27
The landscape looks different heading into the new season. Rashford is gone (back at Old Trafford, at least for now), replaced at Barcelona by Anthony Gordon following his big-money move from Newcastle. Real Madrid, meanwhile, have made an even bigger change at the top: José Mourinho has returned to the Bernabéu on a three-year deal, 13 years after he last managed the club, following Real’s trophyless season and a presidential re-election for Florentino Pérez.
Jude Bellingham enters the season as one of the most in-form English footballers in the world after his World Cup exploits, and Real Madrid are reportedly readying a major new contract offer to reflect it. Under Mourinho, there’s an expectation he could be given more license to attack — with Madrid also strengthening the midfield around him — after a club season where his end product dipped compared to his debut year. If Mourinho can restore some of Real Madrid’s defensive solidity, Bellingham could be the biggest beneficiary going forward.
Trent Alexander-Arnold faces a genuine fight for his starting spot. Real Madrid moved for both Denzel Dumfries (from Inter) and Marc Cucurella (from Chelsea) this summer, and Mourinho is expected to lean towards Dumfries as his first-choice right-back initially. Alexander-Arnold has spoken positively about pre-season under his new manager, describing intense double sessions and a clear tactical framework, and will be hoping a fully fit start to the season — after three separate injuries last year — is enough to win back a regular starting berth.
Anthony Gordon arrives at Barcelona with plenty to prove after an €80m transfer. He’s expected to play predominantly on the left wing, initially as competition and rotation cover for Raphinha, with the door open to nudge ahead of him in the pecking order if his form and fitness hold up. Given his combination of pace, directness and work-rate — plus the kind of high-press system Flick demands — there’s genuine optimism in Catalonia that Gordon could end up starting regularly rather than just rotating in. He’s already made his ambitions clear, telling the club he wants to help deliver a sixth Champions League trophy.
Between a rebuilding Real Madrid under a returning Mourinho and a Barcelona side trying to make an expensive new winger work, England’s La Liga contingent — now down to just three players across the league’s two biggest clubs — will have plenty riding on the season ahead.
