A few Arsenal internationals have been left out of their national team squads ahead of the October break, as call-ups continue to be confirmed......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
Arsenal are likely to have quite a few players involved with their countries over the international break, but there have also been a number of exclusions already confirmed.
For a start, Jorginho continues to be left out of Italy’s squad. Riccardo Calafiori has received a call-up, but his club teammate won’t be with him.
The suggestion in recent breaks has been that Italy want Jorginho playing more regularly for Arsenal before he returns to the national team. He’s made three starts and one substitute appearance in the Gunners’ first 10 games.
Gabriel Jesus has been left out by Brazil for apparently similar reasons.
Takehiro Tomiyasu has also been excluded by Japan. The defender returned from injury against Southampton, but he only played a few minutes off the bench, so he’s also out of match practice.
Elsewhere, Jurrien Timber has been left out of the Netherlands squad, having missed Arsenal’s last game through injury. The right-back was withdrawn at half-time of the match against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed his absence from the Dutch squad is a precaution rather than an indicator of a serious issue.
To complete the trio of absentee right-backs, Ben White is an unsurprising omission from England’s squad. Both Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are involved as usual.
White is yet to return to the England setup after his withdrawal from the 2022 World Cup squad, and he’s also currently dealing with an injury.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Martin Odegaard will also miss the international break through injury, though Mikel Merino has made an immediate return to the Spain squad.
Finally, perhaps the most concerning news is the withdrawal of Kai Havertz from the Germany squad with knee problems.