Phil Foden has surgery to remove appendix after England withdrawal

Posted Monday, March 27, 2023 by theguardian.com

· Manchester City star has operation on Sunday morning
· Foden trained on Saturday but out of Ukraine qualifier

Phil Foden trains with England on Saturday at Tottenham’s training ground.

Phil Foden will miss England’s Euro 2024 qualifier against Ukraine after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix. The Manchester City midfielder felt unwell after training on Saturday and has been forced to leave the camp, further limiting Gareth Southgate’s outfield options before his side’s second match in Group C.

Southgate, who is set to hand James Maddison his first international start when England meet Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday evening, has already seen Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and Reece James pull out of the squad through injury. England are also without Luke Shaw, who is suspended following his red card during the 2-1 victory against Italy on Thursday night.

Foden came on for Jack Grealish during the second half against Italy and was unfortunate to be taken off following Shaw’s dismissal. Southgate needed extra bodies in defence and decided to introduce Kieran Trippier for Foden.

The 22-year-old, who was a regular in the starting 11 during the World Cup, understood why he was sacrificed and he had hoped to be involved against Ukraine. But misfortune struck again on Saturday. Foden went away for examination and was found to have appendicitis.

There has been no clarity around Foden’s recovery time. His absence will also be a blow for City as Pep Guardiola’s team continue their pursuit of Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and prepare for their Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich next month. Foden is highly unlikely to feature against Liverpool next Saturday.

It is unclear if Foden would have started against Ukraine, with Maddison likely to replace Grealish on the left side of England’s attack. Maddison, whose only previous cap came as a substitute in 2019, has done well in training and is set to line up alongside Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka. Ben Chilwell is expected to replace Shaw.