LONDON (AP) — Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka “wanted desperately” to play in this international break, England coach Thomas Tuchel said Monday after the Arsenal stars joined a list of players from the Premier League leader citing injury issues.
Ten Arsenal players in the past week either did not join their national team or left camp early as coach Mikel Arteta’s team chases three trophies, including a first English title in 22 years.
“The risk for making it worse was just way too big,” Tuchel said of fitness assessments for Rice and Saka ahead of hosting Japan on Tuesday in a warmup game for the World Cup.
Midfielder Rice and winger Saka are likely starters for England at the World Cup and also key to Arsenal’s quest for a first Premier League title under Arteta after three straight runner-up finishes.
“They were both clearly in discomfort when we did the medical assessment, so it made absolutely no sense that they stayed,” said Tuchel, adding that both “wanted desperately to be involved.”
Other Arsenal players who left national-team camps over the weekend after playing include Spain midfielder Martin Zubimendi and Ecuador defender Piero Hincapié.
Central defenders William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães did not travel with France and Brazil, respectively, for those teams’ warmup game Friday in the United States. France won 2-1.
Arsenal’s intense April schedule starts Saturday with the FA Cup quarterfinals at Southampton. The club then plays at Sporting Lisbon three days later in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.
Arsenal has seven games left in the Premier League, and sits nine points ahead of Manchester City which has a game extra to play. It’s next league game is at home against Bournemouth on April 11.
Two Arsenal players are involved in decisive World Cup qualifying playoffs Tuesday. Viktor Gyökeres leads Sweden’s attack against Poland, days after his hat trick in a 3-1 win over Ukraine, and defender Riccardo Calafiori’s Italy faces Bosnia-Herzegovina away.
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