Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka has been left out of the England squad for their game against Andorra on Saturday evening.
Saka was called up by Thomas Tuchel for the first time for the June international fixtures, having missed the German’s first camp as Three Lions boss through injury back in March.
The 23-year-old was plagued by injury last season and was absent for over three months with a hamstring tear between December and April.
While he’s been relatively injury-free throughout his career thus far, it’ll be a growing concern for the Arsenal hierarchy that Saka is increasingly missing football for fitness reasons.
Bukayo Saka left out of England squad for Andorra game
England take on Andorra in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday, before facing Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday in Nottingham.
Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly were included in Tuchel’s squad alongside Saka, and are expected to feature against the small nation sandwiched between Spain and France.
According to the BBC, Saka will not play any role against Andorra, as he’s only completed one training session this week.
It’s not been confirmed yet by Tuchel, but it’s believed that his omission from the squad is linked to his fitness.
It remains to be seen whether Saka will feature against Senegal, although Gunners supporters will certainly hope that England take precautionary measures with him to avoid exacerbating whatever injury he is nursing.
Bukayo Saka’s injury issues must impact Arsenal’s transfer plans
While it’s conjecture, many speculate that the reason for Saka picking up more frequent injuries in recent times is due to him being overburdened with minutes at a young age.
Arsenal have done poorly at providing their talisman with cover and competition over the years, and have arguably overplayed him.
Andrea Berta cannot afford to let this continue, and must provide Mikel Arteta with a viable alternative moving forward.
Ethan Nwaneri is a bright prospect who can take some minutes off Saka, but the teenager’s future lies in a central role, and he’s viewed more as an heir apparent to Martin Odegaard.
Leroy Sane has been linked with Arsenal, and the German might represent a smart addition Arsenal can make to provide Saka with some respite from time to time.
Sane is comfortable on the right and would come in happy to deputise for Saka, whilst also competing for a place on the left-hand side of the Gunners’ attack.
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