England and Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out of Euro 2020 with a thigh injury. The 22-year-old may be out for up to 6 weeks.
The young defender hurt himself in the closing stages of Wednesday’s friendly against Austria and a scan revealed he has suffered a quad tear, which means he will miss the European Championships.
The youngster is expected to be sidelined for around six weeks and will return to Liverpool for rehabilitation.
Manager Gareth Southgate will not name a replacement until after Sunday’s final warm-up game with Romania though there are rumours floating that Jesse Lingard will be called up with Ollie Watkins also in the running.
Alexander-Arnold’s inclusion as one of four right-backs was one of the main talking points when the Three Lions squad was named last week, with the Liverpool player having missed the previous seven internationals for his country having been dropped for poor form with his club in the league.
England’s first game at Euro 2020 is a rematch of the 2018 FIFA World Cup semifinal as they face Croatia at Wembley on Sunday, 13 June.
The English will be looking to avenge that defeat and with home advantage, they will fancy their chances of coming out on top. Fortunately for Liverpool, it looks likely that Alexander-Arnold will be back for pre-season and the start of next season.
Although he will be a big miss for England, they have three more world-class right-backs in Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Reece James so can most certainly fill in that void.