Bukayo Saka injury latest: England to not risk Arsenal winger against Andorra after 'discomfort'

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Evening Standard

·7 June 2025

Bukayo Saka injury latest: England to not risk Arsenal winger against Andorra after 'discomfort'

Gunners star only completed a full training session for the first time on Friday ahead of latest World Cup qualifier in Barcelona

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka will have to wait a little longer to make his first England appearance under Thomas Tuchel.

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The Gunners star - who was not involved in the first matches of a new era against Albania and Latvia at Wembley in March due to injury - sustained a knock on the final day of the Premier League season against Southampton that has limited his involvement with the Three Lions, who held a training camp in Girona ahead of their latest World Cup qualifying clash with Group K minnows Andorra in Barcelona this evening.

Tuchel revealed that the recalled Saka only resumed full training on Friday and was a doubt to face Andorra as a result, though would play in Tuesday night’s friendly match against Senegal at the City Ground in Nottingham.

“He came into camp with a little bit of discomfort from the last match against Southampton, so we took care of him and treated him individually until today basically,” Tuchel said of Saka.

“It was the first training session that he started and finished with the group. Yesterday, he started with the group but did not finish with the group, so let's see.

“I'm not sure if we take the risk for tomorrow's game. The decision has not been taken, but he will be available for the Senegal match, and he plays a major role in our thoughts how to build a competitive team.

“I think just that he grew in his personality with every season that he played so consistently for his club, and the club grew with him and became so competitive. He was just a driver in all this development at Arsenal - one of the key players, one of the main drivers of this competitiveness.

He came into camp with a little bit of discomfort from the last match against Southampton, so we took care of him and treated him individually until today basically

Thomas Tuchel

“Until his latest injury he was more or less always available, always playable every three days. He had this consistency in his game and in his body, which made him very unique. He was decisive for England, he took responsibility, he bounced back after kind of decisive and dramatic penalty miss.

“It's nice to see that he's back because he wanted to be back, and you straight away see when he comes in that he is comfortable to be with the squad, he knows what it takes to be a national player.”

Arsenal will be eager that England take no unnecessary risks with Saka’s fitness after the 23-year-old missed more than three months of this season following surgery on a torn hamstring sustained in December which ruled him out of Tuchel’s first games in charge.

Tuchel - who has also recalled the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Noni Madueke for these games - is definitely without Ollie Watkins against Andorra after the Aston Villa striker withdrew from the squad with a minor injury, with no replacement called up.

Ivan Toney is back in the England fold this week for the first time since his move to Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli, along with uncapped Chelsea defender Trevoh Chalobah, but there is no Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford, Dominic Solanke, Harry Maguire or Jarrod Bowen.

Manchester City defender John Stones is continuing his rehabilitation from a thigh injury with England, but will not feature against Andorra or Senegal.

Adam Wharton, Jarell Quansah, Tino Livramento and Elliot Anderson are all in the England Under-21 squad for the upcoming European Championship in Slovakia, which new Chelsea signing Liam Delap will skip as he heads to the Club World Cup instead.