As all 20 Premier League clubs gear up for the start of the new season, some are coming to terms with the fact that some first-team players won’t be available for quite a while.
The Olympic men’s football tournament gets underway on August 4, with Denmark playing Iraq in the opener, and seven players from England’s top-flight have been selected for the 16-team tournament.
Four years ago, Team GB’s involvement meant the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Daniel Sturridge and Danny Rose were involved, while Oscar had to wait for his Chelsea debut after taking part in the London Games.
This time around, six Premier League clubs will have players taking part, as will several from the Championship, with Tottenham’s Son Heung-Min perhaps the highest-profile.
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Arsenal are the only Premier League club who will be without two players, though Serge Gnabry and new signing Takuma Asano were unlikely to have been involved in first-team action even if available.
West Ham will be more concerned, with Manuel Lanzini – who started so strongly last season – away with the Argentina squad. He is one of only three Europe-based players in their 18-man squad, though there remains a chance that Lanzini will miss the tournament through injury.
If Manuel Lanzini fails to make it to the Olympics due to injury, Cristian Pavon will be his replacement. pic.twitter.com/reH13PSu4v
— ARG Soccer News ™ 🇦🇷⚽⭐️⭐️⭐️🏆 (@ARG_soccernews) July 24, 2016
The remaining three players are Liverpool’s Tiago Ilori and Manchester United goalkeeper Joel Castro Pereira, both of whom will be in action for Portugal, and Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, who is one of Nigeria’s three over-age players.
Olympic squads are only allowed three players over the age of 23, with Brazil’s Neymar by far the highest-profile name to feature.
The men’s tournament ends on August 20, one week after the start of the Premier League season, and full squad lists can be found here.
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