Bukayo Saka leaves England camp after positive Covid test to add to withdrawals
Bukayo Saka has withdrawn from the England squad having tested positive for Covid-19.
The 20-year-old has not trained since joining up with the squad on Tuesday and has been isolating, as a precaution, at England’s base at St George’s Park.
It was originally hoped that Saka had a non-Covid related illness, given he had previously tested negative, but will now not play any part in the friendlies against Switzerland and the Cote d’Ivoire at Wembley.
Saka has returned home to continue isolating and becomes the second Arsenal player to withdraw from Gareth Southgate’s squad after Aaron Ramsdale had to pull out through injury. No further replacements are planned with a squad of 24 in place.
Meanwhile, Sam Johnstone is poised to pull out of the England squad for their friendlies this week, with Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster a leading contender to replace him and make a shock return to international football.
Forster, 34, has not played for England for six years but has been back on Gareth Southgate’s radar this season after forcing his way back into the starting line-up at St Mary’s.
With Kyle Walker-Peters also called up and joining James Ward-Prowse in the squad to face Switzerland and Ivory Coast, Southampton could have three players in Southgate’s squad for the international break.
West Brom keeper Johnstone was called up for the double-header but was unable to train with the squad on Tuesday when players met up, and he is now expected to withdraw. Declan Rice and Emile Smith Rowe did not train with the squad either, while Raheem Sterling was given permission to join late after attending an event with Prince William in Jamaica.
Southgate had already lost Ramsdale to injury for the friendlies as he steps up preparations for the World Cup later this year, which led to Johnstone coming in.
Forster has played in every Premier League game since Boxing Day after forcing his way ahead of Willy Caballero as the two competed while Alex McCarthy was sidelined. His last cap was against Australia in 2016 during the Roy Hodgson era.
He was selected by Southgate for further squads but has not made an appearance under the current England boss, then forced his way back into Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team after a spell on loan back at Celtic.
Southgate has also called up Crystal Palace’s Tyrick Mitchell following withdrawals from Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James, while Tammy Abraham was replaced by Ollie Watkins for the matches at Wembley starting on Saturday against the Swiss.
It will be Mitchell’s first involvement with England at any level while Walker-Peters, a 2017 Under-20 World Cup winner, has earned caps from Under-18 through to Under-21 level.
Mitchell, 22, has been in outstanding form and was unfortunate not be selected in the original squad with his Palace team-mates Marc Guehi, who has also been called up for the first time, and Conor Gallagher.
Walker-Peters has impressed having switched from right-back to fill in at left-back for Southampton with England short of options in that area as both Ben Chilwell and Kieran Trippier are out injured.
Liverpool had already ruled Alexander-Arnold out with manager Jurgen Klopp revealing he would be missing for a number of weeks having suffered a hamstring injury. James missed Chelsea’s 2-0 win against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup quarter-final at the Riverside.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed on Saturday night that the club's technical and sporting director Petr Cech was contacting Southgate with the news. “Petr Cech will have this chat. Because the recommendation is that he does not go,” said Tuchel.
Ramsdale was ruled out of Arsenal's clash with Aston Villa on Saturday after suffering a hip injury against Liverpool last Wednesday. The withdrawal of Abraham, who has been in outstanding form in Italy and scored the fastest-ever goal in the Rome derby after just 56 seconds in a weekend win over Lazio, is more of a surprise.
