England have announced that Arsenal attacker Bukayo Saka has pulled out of the Three Lions' squad due to injury, handing the Gunners a serious concern over his fitness for their top-of-the-table Premier League clash with Manchester City.
The 22-year-old reported for duty at St George's Park earlier this week as Gareth Southgate's men gear up for friendlies with Brazil and Belgium, to be played at Wembley on March 23 and 26 respectively.
There was no original mention of an injury to Saka when he arrived at England's headquarters, as he came through the 120 minutes of Arsenal's Champions League last-16 second-leg success over Porto seemingly unscathed, scoring a penalty in the shootout.
However, the winger was unable to take part in team training on Wednesday, and following rumours that he had pulled out earlier on Thursday, England have now confirmed that Saka has left the camp.
The Three Lions said in a statement that Saka had been nursing the unspecified issue since he linked up with his international teammates, but no replacement will be called up by Southgate.
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"Bukayo Saka has left the England camp and returned to his club for continued rehabilitation. The Arsenal forward reported to St. George's Park with an injury and has been unable to participate in training," England said.
"No further replacements are planned as a 25-man England squad continue their preparation for the forthcoming internationals with Brazil and Belgium."
While neither England nor Arsenal have disclosed the nature or severity of Saka's concern, his withdrawal is believed to be precautionary in nature, although his fresh issue will still raise concerns about his availability for the imminent trip to the Etihad.
The Hale End academy graduate has continued to enhance his credentials as one of Europe's leading wingers this season, scoring 16 goals and setting up 13 more in 37 matches across all competitions for the Premier League leaders.
Saka is already the third Arsenal player to withdraw from international duty this month, as Brazil's Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli have also been sent home from the Selecao camp due to injuries of their own.
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Jurrien Timber is still some weeks away from a comeback from his ACL injury too, but Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu both played in a 4-0 friendly loss to Queens Park Rangers on Thursday.
With Saka now unavailable to Southgate, the England head coach is now restricted to Jarrod Bowen, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer as his options on the right-hand side of the attack for the visits of Brazil and Belgium to Wembley later this month.
However, Palmer was also missing from team training alongside Saka on Wednesday, while Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson could only undertake individual work in the gym as well.
Kane suffered an ankle injury during Bayern Munich's last Bundesliga showdown with SV Darmstadt 98 just before the international break, but the Three Lions captain has not had to withdraw yet and is still working on his rehab with national team coaches.
Meanwhile, Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw, Jack Grealish and Kieran Trippier had already failed to make the cut this month due to their own injuries.
Ben Knapton
