Arsenal’s England trio of Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have been joined by Piero Hincapié of Ecuador and Spanish midfielder Martín Zubimendi by all pulling out of international duty across the same weekend during a remarkably injury-riddled club hiatus for the Premier League leaders.
Madueke’s absence was expected and is undoubtedly the most concerning. The fleet-footed forward started for England against Uruguay on Friday evening but was forced off before halftime after an early collision. Madueke was later pictured limping out of Wembley with a brace on his left knee.
If there is any encouragement for Arsenal fans to take, England’s official statement confirming Madueke’s departure described his ailment as nothing more than “a knock.”
The same briefing would only go so far as to reveal that Rice and Saka had returned to north London “for medical assessment.” They were not alone.
On Sunday, Hincapié and Zubimendi returned to a crowded north London treatment room. The South American defender was discharged without any specific diagnosis while Zubimendi was said to be suffering from “discomfort in his right knee.” The Spanish soccer association revealed that the midfielder had been sent back to his club “to avoid any risk and to protect the player’s health.”
Eberechi Eze (England)
Jurriën Timber (Netherlands)
Leandro Trossard (Belgium)
William Saliba (France)
Gabriel Magalhães (Brazil)
Noni Madueke (England)
Declan Rice (England)
Bukayo Saka (England)
Piero Hincapié (Ecuador)
Martín Zubimendi (Spain)
Arsenal Plagued by FIFA Virus
Gabriel, William Saliba
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has made no secret of his disdain for international breaks. “It’s a period that I don’t enjoy a lot,” the Spanish coach fretted earlier this month, “especially when we have 18, 19 players playing and especially with what happened in our recent history with very important players, but it’s part of the calendar and we have to accept that.”
The Gunners’ recent history of seeing their star players struck down while representing their country—the so-called FIFA virus—has repeated itself once again.
There are clearly concerns over Madueke and his compatriot Eberechi Eze, who is reportedly poised to miss the entirety of April with a calf injury sustained before the international break even began. However, it might not be as bad the headline numbers suggest.
Of Arsenal’s 10 international absentees, five pulled out of friendly fixtures before playing a single minute without any injury concerns heading into the break. Leandro Trossard, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães, Rice and Saka all started for the Gunners in last weekend’s disappointing Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City and appeared to emerge from the fixture unscathed (physically, at least).
Arsenal are still in the chase for three major trophies this season and face a compressed calendar littered with marquee fixtures over the coming weeks. The aforementioned quintet would all be expected to start for their respective countries at this summer’s World Cup, a status which is unlikely to be altered by missing a friendly.
Even if Arteta has some lingering doubts over these returnees, he could perhaps afford to rotate his squad for Arsenal’s first fixture back: an FA Cup quarterfinal against Championship outfit Southampton.
