England boss Thomas Tuchel has admitted that he is “worried” by the injury sustained by Arsenal winger Noni Madueke against Uruguay.
Madueke started on the right wing for an experimental Three Lions side in Friday night’s pre-World Cup friendly at Wembley in the absence of rested Gunners team-mate Bukayo Saka, but was replaced by Jarrod Bowen late in the first half.
The 24-year-old collided painfully with Rodrigo Aguirre as the Uruguay striker attempted to block his shot and landed heavily on his left knee.
Madueke received treatment before eventually hobbling off seven minutes before the break, with fears over a potentially serious injury then further sparked as the player was seen limping through the mixed zone at Wembley after the 1-1 draw and wearing a brace on his left leg.
“I'm worried, of course,” Tuchel said. “Very sad and upset and hopefully it's not a big injury.
“He [Madueke] started well, he was full of energy, he was ready to go.
“And I think against a team like Uruguay, who rely on one-against-ones, to isolate them, he makes the spaces open up and he could have been a key player for us, which he is.”
Arsenal will be anxiously awaiting the chance to assess Madueke, who is returning to the club, with Mikel Arteta facing a number of mounting injury concerns as his side prepare to return to action following the international break with FA Cup and Champions League quarter-finals ties against Southampton and Sporting respectively.
Saka and Declan Rice only joined up with England on Friday after being among the 11 key players rested by Tuchel against Uruguay, but are already returning to Arsenal for “medical assessment” and will not feature against Japan.
William Saliba, Gabriel and Leandro Trossard all withdrew from international duty with knocks following last weekend’s 2-0 defeat by Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.
The same was also true of Jurrien Timber, who was unable to play in that game, along with captain Martin Odegaard and long-term absentee Mikel Merino.
Arsenal could be without Eberechi Eze for between four to six weeks after a calf injury sustained during the Champions League last-16 second-leg win over Bayer Leverkusen that also saw him miss out against City and then pull out of the England squad.
However, Riccardo Calafiori played the full 90 minutes for Italy in Thursday night’s World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final win over Northern Ireland after initially reporting some pain after joining up with the Azzurri squad.
