England head coach Thomas Tuchel has claimed that Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka have been playing through injury for their club.

Tuchel revealed that Rice has been operating at "70 per cent" for some time because of continued "discomfort" and stated that Saka is "the same". The comments came as the coach defended his decision to withdraw both players from his final England squad before he selects his 26-man roster for the 2026 World Cup.

"Everyone can do the math and it’s a lot of players, of course, and during the situation, it looks a bit suspicious. But I can only talk about our players," Tuchel said.

Tuchel confirmed that Jude Bellingham will also play no part in Tuesday’s friendly against Japan, having initially hoped to give the Real Madrid midfielder "some minutes" as he steps up his recovery from his own injury.

The England boss acknowledged the suspicious timing, given that Premier League leaders Arsenal have had 10 first-team players withdraw from international squads during the March window. Despite the optics, Tuchel expressed his full confidence in the players' honesty.

"I understand the look of it. I still have 100 per cent trust in the honesty of Bukayo and Declan. We did medical tests. I saw them. I have no reason to believe that Declan is not honest with..."

Tuchel refused to disclose the specific nature of the injuries affecting Rice and Saka, but he was clear that the pair "arrived injured" for international duty.