Arsenal trio Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke left England's international camp on Saturday due to fitness issues
11:57, 30 Mar 2026Updated 12:16, 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 Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were "desperate" to play for England against Japan but fitness issues prevented them from doing so.
The pair, alongside club team-mate Noni Madueke, were sent home from the Three Lions camp on Saturday ahead of Tuesday's international friendly.
Rice and Saka were both at Wembley on Friday evening to watch their England team-mates draw 1-1 with Uruguay.
Winger Madueke was forced off during the first half due to a knee issue following a heavy collision with opposition defender Rodrigo Aguirre on the edge of the penalty area.
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The 24-year-old initially carried on despite also suffering a blow to the head but was then forced to leave the field. He was later pictured leaving Wembley with his left leg in a knee brace.
Tuchel said of the trio on Monday when speaking to the media at Tottenham Hotspur's training ground: "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."
England's Noni Madueke sustains an injury during the international friendly match between England and Uruguay at Wembley Stadium on March 27, 2026 in London, England
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Noni Madueke suffered a knock while on international duty(Image: Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images)
Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of a number of stars after Martin Zubimendi and left-back Piero Hincapie became the latest players to withdraw from international duty.
Zubimendi felt some discomfort in his knee while Hincapie was forced off in Ecuador's friendly draw with Morocco.
Tuchel did make it clear he was not disappointed with any players, John Stones and Adam Wharton also withdrew from his squad, for not being available.
He continued: "We are disappointed but not disappointed with the players.
"We want everyone in good spirits and in [good] health but it's the reality of the season and being in March, having players that are in European matches and in more than just one competition.
"That's just the reality of it. We've given players time to rest, we have players in camp who have already played more minutes than they did last season. There are some red flags and some concerns. I think some players needed the mental break from football.
"We could see that in the energy when they came back into camp but this is also our last camp before America.
"I am not upset or angry with the players, I got the feeling that everyone was desperate to come.
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"Some of the injured players even started their treatment here, which shows me they are desperate to be around the group. Everyone was more affected to leave than being able to stay."
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