England stars Eberechi Eze, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke are four of Arsenal’s ELEVEN players who have withdrawn from international duty.
Manager Tuchel spoke before England vs. Japan (Image: 2026 The FA)
England manager Thomas Tuchel admitted the fact that 11 Arsenal players had withdrawn from international action was “suspicious”, but insisted there was no doubt as to the sincerity of the withdrawal of the Three Lions’ star quartet.
Ebelesi Eze was sent off before Friday’s 1-1 draw with Uruguay, while Noni Madueke limped out of the game and returned to Arsenal. Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka did not take part in camp until Saturday, but both have been returned to the Gunners following medical tests.
They will be withdrawn from international duty along with Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard, William Saliba, Gabriel, Julian Tambor, Piero Hankapie and Martin Zvimendi.
Arsenal are still competing on three fronts to end their long trophy drought and win their first Premier League title in more than 20 years.
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The Blues hold a nine-point lead over Manchester City in the title race, but they still have a game in hand, with a fixture at the Emirates at the Gunners remaining.
City defeated Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final before the international break, ending Mikel Arteta’s side’s hopes of achieving a quadruple, but Josep Guardiola’s side have already been eliminated from the Champions League.
Arsenal face Southampton in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday night, while City face Liverpool in the last eight earlier in the day.
The Gunners will then face Sporting Lisbon in a back-to-back Champions League quarter-final, but considering the packed schedule, the number of international players withdrawing has raised eyebrows.
But Tuchel insists there is no doubt about the sincerity of his players. “Everyone can do the math and of course it depends on a lot of players,” he said. “It looks a little doubtful in this situation, but I can only speak for the players.
Maduke limped off during England’s match against Uruguay (Image: Getty)
“I still have 100% confidence in Bukayo and Declan’s honesty. We did the medical exam and I saw it. I have no reason to believe that Declan is not honest with me. I have no reason to believe that Bukayo is not honest.”
“But given the number of players Arsenal have, I can understand that view.”
Maduke’s outlook is more serious than that of his other Arsenal and England team-mates, with Tuchel admitting he could face a long-term absence.
“Noni will be out for a few days, maybe a few weeks,” he added. “Everyone will be out for quite a few days, but not dramatically. It’s unfortunate, but I’m not mad at the players, I’m not mad at the players.
“I felt that everyone was eager to be here. Some of the injured players stayed here to start their treatment, which shows they want to be part of the group.”
“Nobody left right away. Everyone stayed, had dinner, spent the night, had breakfast. That’s in good spirit and that’s how it should be.”
“I don’t know if we want to ignore the nature of the injury. Arsenal won’t be happy, but Declan has been feeling discomfort for quite some time and has been playing through it and he’s on the brink now. It’s the same with Bukayo.”
“He played through pain until the Carabao final and against Man City we could see that he wasn’t having the impact he wanted for the club.
“As you can see, he recognized it right away. He tried three days of treatment to get it out and get ready, but it was too painful. We are not going to force players who are currently at 70 percent into a friendly.”
England play Japan tonight in their final friendly before heading to America. Jude Bellingham will be sidelined as he recovers from a hamstring problem, but goal scorer Ben White could start after returning to international duty on Friday.
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