Bukayo Saka will miss England’s upcoming matches against Australia and Italy, Mikel Arteta has confirmed.
The Arsenal winger sat out Sunday’s win over Manchester City due to an injury picked up in the midweek defeat to Lens, despite Arteta initially stating that he was in contention.
“He felt something then obviously you’re tempted to risk him,” Arteta said before the 1-0 victory.
“But he wasn’t able to train yesterday so that put him out of the game. It is [a blow] but we’ve lost players in recent weeks and had to adapt to it.”
Speaking after Gabriel Martinelli’s late winner at the Emirates Stadium, Arteta ruled Saka out of England duty.
“No, he will not make it,” Arteta said. “He has not trained for a single session. He is not available to play football at the moment.”
England included Saka in their squad for the upcoming Wembley double-header last week and Gareth Southgate admitted there were doubts over the 22-year-old forward.
Australia travel to the capital for a friendly on Friday night before the Three Lions host Italy in a Euro 2024 qualifier four days later.
