Unai Emery defended his players when asked about the reason behind them not getting selected for the England national team for Euro Cup qualifiers against Czech Republic and Montenegro.
Arsenal became the only club out of the top six Premier League sides to have not one of their English players get called up by Gareth Southgate during this international break.
Speaking on the issue, the Spanish manager said, “Danny would have been with the national team before his injury. But it is right that I think every team needs English players in it.”
Danny Welbeck was expected to be part of the Three Lions squad after earning a spot in the 2018 FIFA World Cup but the striker is due to miss the remainder of the season.
With players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott leaving the club over the past two seasons, English representation at Arsenal has reduced by a favourable margin.
Calum Chambers is out on loan with Fulham and Rob Holding is also out for the rest of the campaign, neither of whom are good enough for an international callup at this point.
However, Unai Emery has hopes of raising more local talent over the coming years. When he was asked about some of the club’s academy players and whether they could cut it for the English side later in the future, he replied, “Yes, of course, we do. We have players here who are now in the Under-18s, Under-19s, Under-20s and Under-21s with England.
“We have a lot of them with the possibility to grow up with us and be part of our future – and also to be with the national team.”
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