Arsenal Football Club is facing a mounting injury crisis ahead of the final stretch of the season, with five senior players confirmed to have withdrawn from international duty following a damaging weekend.
The situation comes in the wake of Sunday’s EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester City at Wembley, a match that has taken a toll on Mikel Arteta’s squad. The club’s medical department is now assessing a series of setbacks that threaten to deplete the first-team ranks ahead of a demanding April schedule.
Brazilian Football Federation have announced that Gabriel Magalhães would not participate in upcoming friendlies against France and Croatia after reporting pain in his right knee.
The injury, sustained during the Wembley final, prompted imaging tests that confirmed the player is unfit for the current FIFA international window. The federation confirmed that no replacement would be called up.
In a parallel development, the Royal Belgian Football Association confirmed that attacking midfielder Leandro Trossard has also withdrawn from the national squad for the friendly matches against the United States and Mexico. The 28-year-old is understood to be managing a hip complaint.
The withdrawals follow a broader pattern of injury-enforced absences affecting Arsenal’s international contingent.
Eberechi Eze, who missed the cup final due to a calf issue, has pulled out of the England camp, while William Saliba, another key Arsenal defender sustained a problem at Wembley and has subsequently withdrawn from France’s squad.
Defender Jurrien Timber, who was absent from Sunday’s match due to an ongoing ankle concern, has also been cut from the Netherlands squad for the current international break. Meanwhile, club captain Martin Ødegaard was omitted from Norway’s selection entirely as he continues to recover from a knee problem, and midfielder Mikel Merino remains sidelined following a foot operation.
The international break had already seen confirmation that Ben White would end his self-imposed exile from the England national team, though the timing of these multiple injury withdrawals will nevertheless be of considerable concern to the Arsenal coaching staff.
With no competitive fixtures until early April, the club will hope the two-week break provides sufficient time for key players to recover. Arsenal’s return to action is scheduled for April 4, when they travel to Southampton for an FA Cup quarter-final tie. That fixture will be followed three days later by the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final away to Sporting Lisbon.