- The Arsenal star did not take part in training with his teammates on Wednesday
- The Three Lions will also have to make do without Harry Kane in the match against Brazil
- England’s 2004 European Championship team were great on paper, but they didn’t win. Can this crop do it this summer? Listen to the It all starts podcast
England have suffered a double injury blow with Harry Kane a doubt for Saturday’s match against Brazil, while Bukayo Saka has withdrawn from the squad altogether.
England captain Kane suffered the problem last Saturday while playing for Bayern Munich after crashing into a goalpost during his side’s win over Darmstadt.
Kane has missed parts of training this week and will be treated at St George’s Park on Monday after a scan.
And there are concerns that the country’s all-time top scorer will not be fit enough to start against the South Americans this weekend, although hopes remain he can play a bigger role in Tuesday’s match against Belgium.
England will not take any chances on Kane’s fitness, especially as both matches are friendlies.
Bukayo Saka is set to leave the England camp after a blow for manager Gareth Southgate
The FA are yet to confirm Saka’s withdrawal with England playing Brazil on Saturday
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Meanwhile, it is understood that Saka is also leaving camp with an unspecified injury.
If Kane is not fit to start against Brazil, head coach Gareth Southgate is expected to turn to Ivan Toney or Ollie Watkins to play as England’s central striker.
There is a growing feeling that Southgate, who can only choose 23 players for Euro 2024, will pick one between Toney and Watkins this summer.
Last week Southgate said: ‘He (Toney) has super quality. He plays with enormous self-confidence, a great appearance, technically a good finisher. The goal he scored at Spurs you often see forward in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper and you’re not sure, I wasn’t in the stadium thinking this isn’t going in, there’s no doubt about possible. He is a very good finisher.
‘He actually has a slightly different profile to Ollie and Harry, but he does have the ability to both connect and finish the game. We still have to figure out whether we take two real 9s or three and we have other players in those attacking areas who can play as a 9. (Jarrod) Bowen did that, (Anthony)(Gordon did, Bellingham almost did that too.
“So we have to figure out what the right balance is further down the line, but we felt we needed to involve Ollie and Ivan in particular and make them feel part of that group. They both deserve it in different ways.”