Tottenham drop hint over Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero stance after Argentina controversy
Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero are back in South America ahead of Argentina's World Cup qualifiers
https://www.football.london/tottenh.../lo-celso-romero-tottenham-argentina-21463827
By
Rob GuestTottenham Hotspur Writer
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Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero will be involved in international action in the early hours of Friday morning following their controversial Argentina call-ups.
Not expected to travel to South America for the first international break of the season with Premier League sides not wanting their players to travel to red-list countries due to the strict 10-day quarantine period upon their return, the
Spurs duo departed for their home country on Sunday evening after an agreement was struck.
Both
Lo Celso and
Romero were joined on their flight by Aston Villa duo Emi Martinez and Emi Buendia.
Facing thee games over the next week as World Cup qualification resumes, it is understood that Spurs - as other Premier League clubs have done - believe they have currently agreed with their players to not play in the final match of their three international fixtures.
That would mean that Lo Celso and Romero return back to the capital after the crunch clash against Brazil on Sunday, September 5, with fellow Spurs teammate Davinson Sanchez doing likewise after Colombia's game against Paraguay the same day.
Well, what seems to have now complicated matters even further for Spurs and their South America players is that Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni has stressed that all players called up for international duty are in contention for all three games.
“We gave the list for the three games and there are no doubts about that. The players are here to play the three games,” he said (as reported by Argentine publication Olé via
Sport Witness).
Despite the comments from Scaloni about the Spurs pair staying for all three fixtures, Tottenham seem to have made their stance pretty clear when it comes to the games both will be involved in.
There is no mention of any international fixtures involving Tottenham players beyond Wednesday on the club's official website despite Argentina due to play in the early hours of Friday morning (Image: tottenhamhotspur.com)
Showing on the
club website a breakdown of all the international games their players will be involved in this month, Lo Celso and Romero's final international game of September is down to be the showdown against Brazil on Sunday.
The same goes for Sanchez following Colombia's match away at Paraguay on the same day as no international games are mentioned beyond Wednesday, September 8.
Should the players return as Spurs have planned, they would miss the upcoming games against Crystal Palace and Rennes following their isolation period upon their return.
They could then potentially be available to face Chelsea on Sunday, September 19 but that will all depend on where they are in terms of their fitness.
A later return as Scaloni has alluded to would see them miss the aforementioned games and possibly the Carabao Cup clash away at Wolves.
However, rather than spending a 10-day quarantine period in a government-designated hotel in the UK, reports from Argentina have suggested that the players could instead head to a Croatian island for a training camp instead.
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When pressed further on the controversy surrounding the selections, Scaloni revealed that they "came to the conclusion that they had to come" after talks with the European clubs impacted by the call-ups.
"There was a lot of talk that they were not going to give in to the players… I want to emphasise the position of our footballers for themselves, it is a plus that we have it. I thank you for coming, it is a step forward for the national team," he explained.
“Since I have been part of the national team, both youth and senior, I have always seen the same predisposition. But when you win something, everything is magnified, Argentine players always want to be there. And that is a plus. Now something nice comes. It is an important challenge to qualify for the World Cup.
“With regard to the clubs in Europe we never had a refusal, we have debated. We talked and came to the conclusion that they had to come. We are happy that they are with us. And now to play, which is the most important thing.”