Eight Premier League clubs saw stars withdraw from international duty… here’s who the big winners were from the break

DAILYMAIL.COM • 3h ago

By WILL GOVE 10:02 14 Oct 2026, updated 10:13 14 Oct 2026

Pulling on your nation’s shirt should be one of the proudest moments of a footballer’s life, but a growing number are deciding against it.

This malaise was made particularly clear in the most recent international break which, for the first time, was extended to three weeks. Thirteen first-team players across eight different English top-flight clubs opted out of playing for their country having been called up – some citing fatigue, some with more serious injuries.

Daily Mail Sport looks at which clubs benefited the most from their stars having some extra time off…

After the events of the last three weeks, Mikel Arteta will be dreading the next international break as Arsenal saw six of their first-team players pick up injuries away with their nations.

Declan Rice, whose tired legs could not quite carry England to the World Cup final this summer, withdrew from Thomas Tuchel’s most recent camp as he continues to feel the effects of last season’s gruelling campaign. That rest has reaped its rewards for Arteta, with the midfielder able to play the full 90 minutes in the Gunners’ gritty win over Leeds.

The Gunners are searching for back-to-back Premier League titles for the first time in their history and preserving their best players – while controversial among England fans – will no doubt prove astute when the marathon campaign reaches its conclusion.

Another team that benefited from their players withdrawing from international duty this weekend were Arsenal’s London rivals Chelsea.

The Blues went into the international break with worrying form after picking up just one point from the possible nine available against Arsenal, Hull and Brentford and Xabi Alonso’s squad looked in dire need of some time off.

And two of Chelsea’s biggest stars ensured they did not waste this opportunity for recovery. Cole Palmer, who was left out of England’s 2026 World Cup squad, chose not to join England for the first of their Nations League games and get back to full fitness instead. What it means for his future under Thomas Tuchel remains to be seen but the time off clearly did the trick domestically for Chelsea’s No 10, who started and contributed an assist during Chelsea’s 5-1 drubbing of Bournemouth.

Another star performer on Saturday for the Blues was Joao Pedro, who netted two goals on his return. The Brazilian sustained a minor knee injury just before the international break commenced and it may have been a blessing in disguise.

Pedro, just like Palmer, was bizarrely left out of Brazil’s 2026 World Cup squad and was severely missed by the Selecao, who suffered an early exit. Carlo Ancelotti seems to have come to his senses since and wanted Pedro in his latest squad, but the striker did not travel and as a result is back fully fit and firing.

The Eagles saw one first team star fail to turn out for their country after being called upon, but there can be no doubting the legitimacy of this withdrawal.

With 46 caps to his name, Takehiro Tomiyasu is an integral figure in Japan’s national team but was forced to pull out after sustaining a calf injury during Palace’s 0-0 draw away to Leeds before the break.

Even with three weeks on the sidelines, the defender was not deemed fit enough to play a role in Palace’s first home win of the season – a 3-1 triumph over Nottingham Forest on Sunday – and Japan fans will not feel aggrieved by his absence.

Man City have lost a lot of friends over the international break, so adding a legion of national team managers will hardly give Enzo Maresca cause to lose sleep.

Following the bombshell verdict from the independent panel, that found Manchester City guilty of the vast majority of the 115 charges levelled against them, on the pitch issues were hardly the club’s primary concern.

But City, just like Chelsea and Arsenal, were able to benefit from one of their players avoiding game time in the international break.

Antoine Semenyo, who has become a fixture in City’s team since joining from Bournemouth in January of last year, missed out on playing for Ghana due to an ankle issue the winger was careful not to exacerbate.

Semenyo was, however, deemed fit enough to play the full 90 minutes at Anfield on Sunday, although his impact was limited with fellow winger Jeremy Doku stealing the show off the bench in an emphatic 3-0 win over Liverpool.

From the blue side of Manchester to the red. United saw the most players withdraw from international duty before the first game but did not reap the same rewards as their other big six rivals.

Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo were part of the five-player contingent that pulled out of the England squad due to reported injury problems, but unlike Rice and Palmer. the England pair did not taste victory after their rest.

Kobbie Mainoo’s lack of public reasoning for his withdrawal saw eyebrows raised among fans and pundits, and he has seen his standing in the squad diminish amid the impressive rise of his replacement, Alex Scott.

But despite the three-week rest Mainoo and United looked poor during their 1-1 draw to Tottenham in which the midfielder played all 90 minutes with minimal impact. Rashford was given insufficient time to affect the game, coming on in the 95th minute.

Benjamin Sesko also pulled out of Slovenia duty due to a shin injury he has been dealing with for over a year now and remains unfit after the international break came to an end.

Next up are the Magpies and after a second 4-1 loss of the season, this time to newly promoted Coventry, Matthias Jaissle may be wondering if his three weeks on the training pitch have been wasted.

Newcastle’s second-half capitulation points to fatigue in a side that were ransacked of their star talent over the summer.

Amar Dedic and Tino Livramento were the only members of the squad to miss out entirely on their international camps due to injuries both were not ready to start at Coventry. Dedic did make a second-half substitute appearance but failed to turn the tide.

The Mackems only had one player pull out of international duty early but this time an unusual reason.

The veteran midfielder Granit Xhaka has been capped 152 times for his nation and captained them since 2020, but was forced to withdraw from the squad for the first time in his career after being embroiled in a row over a forged Covid vaccine certificate.

Xhaka issued an apology, paid a £180,000 fine and made his return to action in Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat by ten-man Brighton.

Spurs went into the break rock bottom and the international calendar was hardly forgiving for Roberto De Zerbi with the majority of his squad representing their nation over the break.

Spurs are enduring their worst start to a season in Premier League and remain winless after six games.

But their latest draw away to United was one that, in isolation, is a good result. Especially considering that while only one of their players withdrew from international duty, Tottenham’s squad played more minutes than any other Premier League club over the extended international break.

Mohamed Kudus of Ghana was the player involved for Spurs who withdrew from international duty before the first game and only managed 66 minutes at Old Trafford but looked lively in the first half and on another day could’ve netted the opener from an early chance he had squandered.

Pedro Porro was the other member of Roberto De Zerbi’s squad that stayed at home but even still could not regain match fitness to play on the weekend.

Here are the EIGHT clubs who had their players pick club over countryComments are subject to our House rules and TermsNewest{{#isModerationStatus}}{{moderationStatus}}

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