Arsenal have had three players called up by the England u17s, with Marli Salmon’s inclusion confirming he won’t be involved in the midweek League Cup clash against Brighton.
England u17 head coach Liam Bramley has named his 21-player squad for the upcoming u17 European Championship qualifiers, and three Arsenal youngsters have made the list.
Josiah King, Marli Salmon, and Kyran Thompson have all been called up, with Thompson receiving his first call-up at this level.
But perhaps the most significant call-up of the three is Salmon’s, as it means he’ll be unavailable to play in both the Arsenal u21 game against Exeter City on Tuesday night, as well as the Arsenal first-team League Cup match against Brighton on Wednesday.
Salmon has been pushing for more first-team involvement this year, after doing well with his opportunities in senior pre-season. The 16-year-old is already captaining Arsenal in the UEFA Youth League, and he’s taken part in first-team training sessions this month.
The youngster is also a regular u21 starter, appearing in six of their eight games across the Premier League 2 and the EFL Trophy.
But with England’s u17 Euro qualification campaign kicking off on Tuesday afternoon, Salmon won’t be available for club matches this week.
England have a triple header of fixtures, playing the Scotland u17s on Tuesday, October 28th at 15:30 GMT. They then play Lithuania on Friday, October 31st and Sweden on Monday, November 3rd.
This is the first round of qualifiers, and the top-two teams from each group will progress to the next round in spring 2026.