VICENZA, ITALY - OCTOBER 15: Kean Moise of Italy U21 competes with Omar Rekik of Tunisia U21 during the International Friendly match between Italy U21 and Tunisia U21 at Stadio Romeo Menti on October 15, 2018 in Vicenza, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Omar Rekik forced to miss Tunisia’s first October fixture

Oct 5, 2021

Omar Rekik will miss the first game of Tunisia’s international break due to travel restrictions imposed in England, according to a report.

Omar Rekik with Arsenal in training (Photo via Rekik on Instagram)

Arsenal youth defender Omar Rekik is still a way off becoming a regular for his senior club side, but he’s been called up by his country for the second time this month after making his international debut for Tunisia in June.

Unfortunately, the centre-back is going to miss the first game of the break due to travel restrictions. He’ll reportedly join the Tunisia squad directly in Nouakchott, Mauritania ahead of the second fixture.

It’s certainly a shame that matches continue to be affected by these restrictions, but it’s also totally understandable from a safety point of view.

Rekik was very unlikely to play both matches anyway. He’s only played 45 minutes for Tunisia in total, so any minutes in the second fixture on Sunday, 10th October will be further progress for him. The game is at 20:00 BST.

Rekik is one of a few younger Arsenal players to receive an international call-up this October. Karl Hein continues to be regularly involved with Estonia, and Daniel Ballard is up into double figures for caps with Northern Ireland.

Ballard recently turned 22 and is older than Bukayo Saka, who also received a call-up. But centre-backs mature later and Ballard’s still yet to make his Arsenal debut, so his continued international participation is worth mentioning.

You can check out Arsenal’s full list of international call-ups and their schedule of fixtures here.