Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka are out of the England squad with different degrees of injuries which is a big blow to their clubs, Manchester United and Arsenal.
Based on this, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka would not feature in England’s World Cup Qualifiers against Albania and Poland on March 28 and March 31 respectively.
Rashford was invited to England squad despite suffering a foot injury with the intention that he would have gotten better before the game against San Marino on Thursday, March 25. But the Football star could not play the game which ended 5-0 in favor of England.
When he underwent further assessment, it was confirmed that it would be better he returns to Manchester United to continue with his recovery process.
Saka was also invited to the team with the hope that the injury he suffered while playing for Arsenal against Tottenham on March 14 would have healed. Recall that the youngster played with the injury for 74 minutes against West Ham on March 21. But he could not join up with England due to how bad the injury has become.
According to a statement from the camp of the Three Lions of England, the head coach of the national team, Gareth Southgate would not call up extra players to replace the injured Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka.
The two players have proven to be very important to the Three Lions of England as they have been to their separate clubs. Hence, it might be a big challenge for coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to play some of the remaining games of the season without his 23-year-old forward. It will also be difficult for coach Mikel Arteta to replace his 19-year-old right-winger in the current setup of his squad.
Just like every other club in the league, this is the period of the season Manchester United need their best legs fully fit and available to play. The Manchester side are battling to overthrown their rival Manchester City at the top of the league table.
Manchester United went into the international break standing behind first-placed Manchester City on the league table with 14 points gap. With this wide gap, a player like Marcus Rashford who have scored 9 goals and provided 9 assists in 29 league games is expected to remain fit for the final stage of the campaign.
Though the extent of Rashford’s injury is not known, he might not be available for Manchester United’s league game against Brighton on April 4, the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final game against Granada on April 8, and probably the Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on April 11.
As for Arsenal, Mikel Arteta would not be a happy man. Recall that his 22-year-old attacking midfielder, Martin Odegaard got injured on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, while on an international assignment with Norway.
Unfortunately for him, Bukayo Saka who is arguably the most important player at Arsenal in recent games might not be available for the club when the Premier League resumes in April.
Saka has been so impactful since 2021 that he has helped to push the club from the 10th spot to the 9th sport before the March FIFA international break. The 19-year-old winger has scored 6 goals and provided 7 assists in 35 games in all competitions for Arsenal this season.
He might not be available for Arsenal’s Premier League match against Liverpool which is scheduled to kick-off on Saturday, April 3, at 20:00. He might also not be available for Arsenal’s first leg of the Europa League quarter-final game against Slavia Praha on April 8.
