Noni Madueke was forced off in the first half of England's 1-1 draw with Uruguay on Friday night and left Wembley in a knee brace, handing Arsenal a major injury scare
Noni Madueke of England leaves the field through inju
Noni Madueke has injured his left knee(Image: Chris Brunskill/Getty Images)
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England boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted he is “worried” Noni Madueke has suffered a bad injury. Madueke left Wembley with his left leg in a brace in what will be another massive concern for Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
Arsenal now face an anxious wait on the extent of Madueke’s injury as he appeared to have injured his knee in the challenge by Uruguay’s Rodrigo Aguirre.
Tuchel says he is also hoping it is not too serious, but the signs did not look good for the Arsenal winger who was substituted before half time. Concerned Tuchel said: “I'm worried, of course. Very sad and upset and hopefully it's not a big injury.”
Tuchel was also upset that VAR did not intervene after the strong challenge inside the Uruguay penalty box. He said: “It was the tackle. I think it was on the edge, the tackle, within the box. But they didn't check it.”
Tuchel did praise Madueke’s performance up until then as the Arsenal winger faces a battle with West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen for a place in the World Cup squad. Tuchel said: “He started well, he was full of energy, he was ready to go.
"And I think against a team like Uruguay, who rely on one-against-ones, to isolate them, he makes the spaces open up and he could have been a key player for us, which he is.”
That will be of little comfort to Arteta who has a mounting injury list with Eberechi Eze already having pulled out of the England squad with a calf issue which could keep him out for up to a month.
Noni Madueke
Arsenal face a nervous wait on Noni Madueke's injury(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
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They have Mikel Merino also out with a foot injury which could keep him out for the rest of the season while Jurrien Timber missed the Carabao Cup final and is a concern.
Incredibly, six players in total pulled out of internationals with Leandro Trossard, Gabriel and William Saliba all pulled out of the March camps with their respective nations. The final one was Martin Odegaard as the Arsenal and Norway captain recovers from a knee issue but hopes to be back after the international duty.
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