Chelsea forward Kai Havertz withdraws from Germany squad due to illness
Posted by  badge Boss on Mar 27, 2023 - 12:15PM
Havertz will return to London and will miss the Belgium game (Picture: Getty)

forward has withdrawn from the Germany squad due to illness.

The Blues star started as Die Mannschaft eased to a 2-0 win over Peru in an international friendly on Saturday, taking on Belgium in a qualifier on Tuesday.

Havertz will have no role to play in that game, travelling back to on Sunday due to illness. He is the second Chelsea player to withdraw from international duty this weekend with Reece James also returning to his club.

The right-back has struggled with knee problems all season, missing the World Cup as a result, and has also been dealing with a hamstring injury in recent weeks.

‘Reece has gone back, he’s not completely happy with how his leg feels,’ England boss Gareth Southgate said. ‘He was a little bit concerned about that earlier in the week.’

A brief statement from Chelsea explained James’ withdrawal was related to ‘an ongoing issue.’

Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling also missed out on England’s games against Italy and Ukraine through injury while Wesley Fofana missed the chance to make his France debut after picking up a knock in Chelsea’s final game before the international break against Everton.

Madueke was in fine form for England Under-21s (Picture: Getty)

Christian Pulisic meanwhile scored and provided two assists as USA ran out 7-1 winners against Grenada.

for England Under-21s against France on Saturday.

‘I thought he was excellent when he came on,’ England Under-21 boss Lee Carsley said. ‘Seeing him get that goal and two assists was really pleasing.

‘I think his style of play will really suit the Premier League. He’s exciting, fast, direct, and very versatile but what we have to remember is he is still young.

‘He is going to need time, match minutes, the time to work on his game but he has high potential.

‘Like a lot of the younger players, he just needs an opportunity. They need opportunities to show that talent and given a run of games he will be fine.’

Chelsea return to action at home to Aston Villa on 1 April and take on Liverpool at Stamford Bridge three days later.

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