Arsenal youngster picks up injury after senior appearance vs Ipswich Town

Arsenal youngster Marli Salmon has withdrawn from England u18 duty, after picking up an injury.

Arsenal 17-year-old Marli Salmon was set to make his first appearance for the England u18s over the September-October international break, having been selected for a promotion from the u17s.

Yet England have now confirmed that Salmon has withdrawn due to injury, with Chelsea’s Gabriel Sambou replacing him.

Salmon played 90 minutes for Arsenal last week, but there was initially no reason to believe he’d suffered an injury setback.

Though the defender did miss the u21 match against Birmingham City on Friday, he did so because he’d been called up to first-team training with Mikel Arteta’s squad ahead of their game against Brighton and Hove Albion.

Salmon was then absent from the senior squad, which was initially believed to be because Arteta simply didn’t have space to include him. Piero Hincapie and Jurrien Timber had both returned to the squad after their midweek absence, so spaces were at a premium.

It’s now possible that Salmon’s absence also related to his new injury, but there’s no further information available on the problem at this stage.

Salmon’s performance against Ipswich Town had largely earned him praise from the Arsenal fanbase, so they’ll now be hoping he makes a swift return to fitness.

• Madueke admits he was nervous during Liverpool VAR review
  Arsenal’s Noni Madueke has admitted he was worried about VAR intervening to send him off during Sunday’s game against Liverpool, despite not feeling he’d done anything wrong.
• Arsenal eye 20yo striker returning from injury
  Arsenal are keeping a close eye on Eli Junior Kroupi, but AFC Bournemouth are continuing to refuse to sell despite changing their stance on Alex Scott.
• Rice admits Arteta had ‘honest conversation’ with him
  Declan Rice has revealed that Mikel Arteta was pushing for him to do more for Arsenal ahead of this season.
• Concern as Arsenal loanee drops to bench role
  Arsenal loanee Ethan Nwaneri has dropped to the bench for Borussia Dortmund in recent matches, limited to substitute appearances for the last fortnight.
• Liverpool captain claims VAR made ‘clear’ error in Arsenal match
  Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool were denied a clear penalty in their defeat to Arsenal at Anfield on Sunday, appearing incredulous at suggestions that the VAR missed the incident.