Arsenal trio Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke both left England's international camp on Saturday ahead of the fixture against Japan
11:57, 30 Mar 2026Updated 12:01, 30 Mar 2026
Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice
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Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have both returned to Arsenal for treatment
England boss Thomas Tuchel has revealed Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were desperate to play for England against Japan but injuries prevented them from doing so.
The pair, alongside club team-mate Noni Madueke, were sent home from the Three Lions camp ahead of Tuesday's match due to fitness issues.
Rice and Saka were both at Wembley on Friday evening to watch their compatriots drew 1-1 with Uruguay.
Madueke was forced off during the first half due to a knee issue following a heavy collision with Uruguay defender Rodrigo Aguirre on the edge of the penalty area.
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He initially carried on despite also suffering a blow to the head but was forced to leave the field and later left Wembley with his left leg in a brace.
Tuchel said of the trio: "There is nothing more to add from me to add as a coach, I'm not a medical expert.
"We had an assessment after the match and none of them were able to stay and get any minutes, so we released them.
"They had a medical assessment, they wanted desperately to play, just to get the narrative straight, they wanted desperately to get involved but it just made no sense to take this risk.
"If it would have been maybe a last game of the season, we would have kept them and tried everything but in this moment of the season, it did not make sense.
"The risk for making it worse was clearly too big, they were both in discomfort, clearly in discomfort when we did the medical assessments.
"So it made no sense for them to stay. Everyone will be out for quite some days but not dramatically. The assessment then with the picture then slightly better than his feeling but he will be out for some days."
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