Why on earth would we pretend he was injured?It's not becuase we're trying to stop clubs bidding for him; it's becuase we don't want to play a player who's head is elsewhere, particular in such an important position.
We've done this before: Caicedo in Jan 2023 and Dunk at the beginning of 15/16.
What I find the hardest to work out is that they've managed to put a 6 week timescale on it already. Has he even reported back to Lancing following the Euros??