Noni Madueke suffered a knee injury while playing for England against Uruguay on Friday and Arsenal have been handed the latest timeline for his return to action
Noni Madueke is a doubt for Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Sporting CP next week after suffering a knee injury during the international break.
Madueke started England’s 1-1 draw against Uruguay last Friday but was forced off in the 38th minute after going to ground following a challenge from Rodrigo Aguirre. The 24-year-old limped to the touchline and was replaced by West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen before heading straight down the tunnel.
After the game, Madueke walked through the mixed zone wearing a knee brace and looked in clear discomfort, causing fears that he has a serious issue. While The Athletic report that it’s instead a minor issue, he is expected to miss the trip Southampton on Saturday and is a doubt for the first game against Sporting three days later.
The Gunners travel to Lisbon on Tuesday, April 7 before hosting Bournemouth on Saturday, April 11 and welcoming Sporting to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, April 15. With Manchester City to come after, it’s poised to be a crucial period for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta is no doubt going to be hoping Madueke is back for those fixtures.
Following England’s game against Uruguay, Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel admitted he was “worried” about Madueke’s injury but said in his pre-Japan press conference on Monday that he would be out for “some days”.
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Madueke is one of several Arsenal players who have withdrawn from international duty over the last 72 hours, with England duo Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka among those to return to London Colney for “medical assessment”.
Tuchel said: “They (Saka and Rice) had medical assessments. Just to get the narrative straight: they desperately wanted to play. They wanted desperately to be involved. It made just no sense to take this risk.
“If it had been maybe the last game of the season, we would have kept them and tried everything. But in this moment of the season, it did not make sense. The risk for making it worse was just way too big.
“They were both in discomfort, clearly in discomfort, when we did the medical assessment. So it made absolutely no sense that they stayed. [Noni] pictured better than his feeling, but he’ll be out for some days.”
Martin Zubimendi, Piero Hincapie, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Eberechi Eze, Leandro Trossard, and Jurrien Timber are the others that have pulled out of their respective international squads this month. Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino complete the 12-man Arsenal injured list, with the duo both out before the two-week hiatus.
