Henry insists that the footballing calendar is simply too packed, citing the example of Bellingham as evidence for his argument. The Real Madrid midfielder sustained a muscular injury in August and has been ruled out for a month. Last season, he played 49 games for club and country as England reached the Euro 2024 final after a packed club campaign.

FIFA are already facing legal action over the sheer amount of fixtures that top clubs have to play. FIFPro, the players' union, has launched the suit in a bid to halt the expansion of the Club World Cup, which is set to feature 32 teams from 2025.

Per The Athletic, Henry, who works as a Champions League pundit for CBS Sports in the United States, said: “I think for us, for CBS, it is just outstanding, to be able to talk about more games. But there is a but for me, because I’m going to go on the side of being a coach. Too many games. Too many games. As an ex-player, I don’t know how those guys do it. As a pundit. I love it. But as an ex-player and as a coach, it’s too many games.

“Bellingham is already injured. It’s tough to play a season and then go to the Euros and come back and play for the national team. Games left and right and then a FIFA club tournament at the end of the season. So as much as I want to see AC Milan vs. Liverpool and I want to see a Manchester City vs Inter, I want to see the best players on the field being able to perform whenever they can. That’s also part of the product, having the best players on the field still being able to perform all the time. So yes, it is outstanding for us, but if I was a coach, I don’t know if I would have found out outstanding. There’s a lot of games.”

The international break is now over so club football will return this weekend. Next week, top clubs will also enter European competitons as the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League kick off.