Arsenal poised for Bukayo Saka return as Gareth Southgate drops England hint
Arteta comments on Saka injury blow in Arsenal defeat at Lens
England boss Gareth Southgate appeared to suggest that Bukayo Saka has a chance of playing in Arsenal’s crunch Premier League clash with Manchester City. Saka has surprisingly been named in the Three Lions squad for October’s international fixtures despite picking up an injury this week.
The Gunners ace was taken off during Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Lens on Tuesday. Southgate revealed that he will be assessed before potentially playing against City on Sunday.
Many Arsenal fans expected that Saka might miss the fixture, which last season proved pivotal in the two teams’ battle for the Premier League title.
And so they were surprised to see Saka named in the latest England squad, with games against Australia and Italy on October 13 and 17, respectively. It provides hope for the Gunners that the 21-year-old might be available on Sunday.
Asked what he knows of Saka’s injury, Southgate said: “That he’s still being assessed. Obviously they have got a big game this weekend and then there’s another seven days before we play Australia and 10 days before we play Italy. Everyone will monitor everything as we go forward.”
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Meanwhile, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said of Saka’s injury on Tuesday: “We don’t know anything more. It was big enough not to allow him to continue to play the game and that’s a worry for us.”
The Spaniard added: “It was a backheel, an action that can produce that kind of injury. He tried to backheel a ball in the first half and felt something muscular. He felt uncomfortable to carry on so we had to take him off.
“He hasn’t really missed games. We gave him a break against Brentford [in the Carabao Cup] last week and that was all.”
Asked whether he might feature against City, the Arsenal boss said: “Let’s see what the extent of it is. The last few were more knocks than anything else.”
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It comes amid concerns from FIFPro, the global players’ union, that a generation of young players including Saka and England team-mate Jude Bellingham are playing too many games. Saka has been almost ever-present at Arsenal since he made his breakthrough at the Emirates Stadium, and has recently become a regular for his country.
Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes recently topped a list of players who featured in the most matches between September 15, 2022, and September 15, 2023. The Portuguese playmaker played a huge 72 times in that period.
Saka made 58 appearances for Arsenal last season and has missed just three due to injury since making his debut in November 2018. FIFPro recommends that stars play no more than 55 games per season for club and country.
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