Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice among 8 players to leave England camp and return to clubs

The Arsenal duo of Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are among eight players that are set to depart from the England camp before the team’s friendly against Japan on Tuesday.

Both Saka and Rice are returning to Arsenal for “medical assessment”, England said in a statement. Both players were part of the group that joined the camp on Friday and did not feature in the 1-1 draw with Uruguay on the same day.

Arsenal winger Noni Madueke and Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton will also return to their clubs after sustaining knocks against Uruguay. Madueke started the match and was replaced by Jarrod Bowen in the 38th minute, while Wharton came on as a half-time substitute.

The squad update also confirmed that Manchester City centre-back John Stones, who was an unused substitute against Uruguay, had left the camp after sustaining an issue in training before the game.

Leeds United striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who made his first England appearance in nearly five years on Friday, AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori and Newcastle United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale are the other three players that will return to their teams.

27 players remain with the team after head coach Thomas Tuchel announced a 35-man squad on March 20, explaining that it was an opportunity to assess a wider pool of players ahead of this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“We decided to divide it into basically two camps almost, so we bring players in that we haven’t seen who haven’t played so much to open up the picture, and the competition for plane tickets to the U.S.,” Tuchel explained.

“Then from Friday and Saturday, a group of players will come into camp – ten or eleven players who get a rest before and we will then go with a new group and mix of players into the match against Japan.

He added: “This is our last camp (before the World Cup). The last opportunity to impress and the last opportunity for players to compete for their ticket.”

Tuchel handed opportunities to players that have been on the fringes of the squad, including giving Everton’s James Garner his debut and Arsenal’s Ben White his first cap in four years.

After taking on Japan on Tuesday, England are scheduled to play two more friendlies in June, against New Zealand and Costa Rica, while at a preparation camp in south Florida before the World Cup gets underway.