Arsenal teenager withdraws from England squad with injury

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Arsenal's growing list of absentees has another name on it, with 17-year-old Marli Salmon pulling out of the England Under-18 squad due to injury.

Salmon had been named in Will Antwi's group for upcoming fixtures against Italy, France and Germany, but has withdrawn ahead of the camp. Chelsea's Gabriel Sambou has been called up as his replacement.

According to the Evening Standard's Arthur Ferridge, the nature and severity of the issue is not yet clear.

A setback after a bright start

It comes at a frustrating moment for a teenager who has been trending upwards. Salmon played the full 90 minutes as Arsenal saw off Ipswich in the Carabao Cup last week — his only first-team outing of the new campaign so far — and has been a regular presence in Premier League 2.

Mikel Arteta has made a point of praising the club's youngest contingent after that Ipswich win, in which Salmon, Max Dowman, Theo Julienne and Ife Ibrahim all featured.

"A joy to have (Dowman), Marli as well, a 16-year-old, to play at the level with the physicality they have and to be able to handle that level, it's remarkable," Arteta said.

Defensive numbers thinning out

Salmon's withdrawal follows Declan Rice dropping out of the senior England squad only hours earlier, with his non-participation understood to be down to load management. Rice joined Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Cole Palmer in withdrawing from Thomas Tuchel's group.

Elsewhere, Piero Hincapie was not called up by Ecuador because of fitness concerns, while Ben White, Cristhian Mosquera and William Saliba are already working their way back on the treatment table.

That leaves the defensive department as the area carrying the heaviest load of knocks — and explains why a 17-year-old was trusted with a full 90 minutes in a cup tie in the first place. Salmon's emergence had given Arteta a genuine option behind the senior group; now that option is temporarily unavailable too.

The timing is at least manageable. An international break offers a fortnight of recovery work before the squad reconvenes, and Arsenal's medical staff will be hoping the majority of the absentees are back in contention by the time competitive action resumes.

What comes next

Arteta will want as close to a full complement as possible in three weeks' time, with a trip into a difficult run that includes Leeds and then Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

The Spaniard, who is expected to sign a new contract in the coming weeks, has consistently leaned on the academy pipeline when senior bodies have been unavailable, and the Ipswich performance suggested that trust is well placed.

For Salmon, the immediate priority is a diagnosis. Arsenal are yet to confirm any details, and further clarity on his timeline should follow once the club's staff have assessed him at London Colney.