Aaron Ramsdale will not be fit enough to play for England in their upcoming games against Switzerland and Ivory Coast because of a hip injury.
The 23-year-old goalkeeper was left out of the Arsenal squad that took on Aston Villa on Saturday and he now faces a spell on the sidelines. Ramsdale, who joined Arsenal in August for an initial fee of £24 million from Sheffield United, had started every Premier League game for the club since he broke into the starting line-up. His place at Villa Park went to the former Arsenal No 1 Bernd Leno.
Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal manager, said before the match that Ramsdale would be out “for weeks” and after the 1-0 win he confirmed: “He struggled for the final 60 minutes in the Liverpool match in midweek. He will not be able to play for England because of this injury.”
Ramsdale made his England debut last November in a 10-0 win over San Marino. Many observers thought he might have been in line to replace Jordan Pickford for one of the friendly internationals next week.
His loss comes as another disappointment for the England manager Gareth Southgate after Liverpool full back Trent Alexander-Arnold also withdrew from his squad, because of a hamstring issue.
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There was better news for Southgate on Bukayo Saka, who scored the winner for Arsenal against Villa but later suffered a heavy knock in a challenge with Tyrone Mings. Arteta said that Saka “should be Okay” to join the squad and Saka told BT Sport: “My ankle is a bit bloody, but I’ll be going again in the next game.
“I wasn’t complaining [when he was seen speaking to the referee], but I wanted to let him [Andy Madley] know that is my game — I’m going to run at players. Sometimes I need a bit more protection when the opposition is trying to kick me. It’s part of my game, so I’ll be doing it again next time.”
