Bukayo Saka is pushing to be fit for England’s crunch World Cup opener with Croatia.
Arsenal winger Saka was only a substitute in England’s final proper friendly against Costa Rica because of an ongoing Achilles issue. England boss Thomas Tuchel revealed that Saka has not been able to train every day, has been playing through the pain barrier and they have had to monitor his fitness closely.
However, Saka is still working hard to push to be ready for what is a crunch game for England as it is arguably the hardest game of the Group and may define their progress. They face Croatia in Dallas next Wednesday knowing that victory would be massive for their progress and the competition is fierce for places.
There is no doubt that Saka will struggle to start every game and Noni Madueke is a huge Tuchel favourite and has trained really well. Madueke started against Costa Rica and therefore may be ahead in the battle to begin the tournament. But it will be a tight call between Saka and Madueke as the Arsenal pair battle it out for the starting berth in England’s opener.
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There is a growing belief among the players that Jude Bellingham will get the nod ahead of Morgan Rogers for the starting role against Croatia. That may be the most talked about choice Tuchel has to make but Bellingham has been in a “sweet spot” as the manager said and has trained well, looked sharp and is clearly in a strong mindset.
Bellingham was given the No10 shirt and it is likely because of the climate that both players will get minutes but it looks likely the Real Madrid star is now in pole position.
John Stones and Ezri Konsa also impressed Tuchel as his starting pair in central defence against Costa Rica and they may have also done their chances a power of good.
Marc Guehi has been favourite to start with one of the other two alongside him, but the competition in defence is high and Tuchel is a huge fan of both Konsa and Stones and it may be significant that he looked at the pair of them in the Costa Rica.
View 2 ImagesMarc Guehi is battling Ezri Konsa and John Stones for a starting spot(Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Speaking earlier in the week about Saka, Tuchel said: “Bukayo is just not there yet. Some things are missing, consecutive training. They took very good care of him and were very aware of it at Arsenal, and we will do a little bit the same. So, step by step, he is at the moment not able to do every training session through the week and then play. He is still going to be managed.
“They decided together, Bukayo and Arsenal, to let him play through his pain and discomfort, even if it was not possible to train the whole week in the build ups. He was decisive in the second leg against Atletico Madrid to bring them to the final, he played the final. But like I said, he was managed in between, and this is what we do.
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“The player and his needs and health are always first, so what we are doing now, we were monitoring on his week off and now we are bringing him back on the pitch.”
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