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<\/p>\nGareth Southgate will not risk Bukayo Saka\u2019s fitness (PA)<\/p>\n
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Bukayo Saka will not join up with England for international duty next week, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has revealed.<\/p>\n
Saka was missing for the Gunners\u2019 1-0 win over Manchester City after struggling with a hamstring issue during recent matches.<\/p>\n
The absence of Saka ended his run of appearing in 87 consecutive Premier League games and Arteta says he will now sit out England\u2019s upcoming fixtures with Australia (October 13) and Italy (October 17).<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, he will not make it,\u201d Arteta said. \u201cHe has not trained for a single session. He is not available to play football at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has not trained for a single session. He is not available to play football at the moment.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old winger limped off during Arsenal\u2019s loss at Lens on Tuesday, having also been withdrawn in last weekend\u2019s victory at Bournemouth.<\/p>\n
England manager Gareth Southgate had stated on Thursday he would take no risks with Saka despite the Italy clash being a crucial European Championship qualifier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can only go via what Mikel (Arteta) has said about the last few games,\u201d Southgate said earlier this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look after the players as well as any country. There\u2019s always a focus on our players because they are playing their club football, in the main, in England and then we are playing here as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhereas all the other countries call the players that are playing in the Premier League and nobody looks at how they look after them and how they train them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we have really good dialogue with all of their clubs, I think they pretty much all would agree that we probably give better feedback than every other nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have trust in us that we make decisions that are right for the long term whenever we can. We only have 10 matches a year. And there\u2019s been times when\u2026 Bukayo, for example, we haven\u2019t always played.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there are certain key games where, if it\u2019s possible to have your best players, then you do want to have them.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019ve got that responsibility of qualifying for the country but\u2026 I\u2019ve been a player\u2026 I\u2019ve never ever taken a risk on a player\u2019s physical wellbeing. And nor would I.\u201d<\/p>\n