Cristian Romero has spoken of his desire to represent Argentina at the upcoming Olympic Games, making him a doubt for Tottenham Hotspur ahead of the start of next season.
The Spurs defender is currently on international duty with La Albiceleste, and is set to be in their squad for the Copa America this summer, which runs at the same time as the European Championships.
With Argentina favourites to retain their title as kings of South America, that could see them go far in the United States, but may also mean a huge workload for Romero in the summer.
That is because the 25-year-old has stated that he would like to be recommended as one of the over-age players to represent Argentina at the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
Speaking to Gaston Edul after their win over El Salvador last week, Romero said: "I never had the chance to be in the Olympic Games and I would love to.
"Obviously, it doesn't depend on me, but if you want to take me I am available for the Argentine national team."
Should Argentina get to the Copa America final on July 14, Romero would have just 10 days of rest between then and the start of the Olympics in Europe on July 24.
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To keep in spirit with the former rules where all Olympians had to be amateur athletes, the Olympic football tournament is for Under-23 sides only, but each nation is allowed to call-up three players of any age to accompany the youth side.
The Olympics does not fall under FIFA's jurisdiction, so Spurs are within their rights to block any call-up if they desire, but they would then run the risk of upsetting the player if they opted to do so.
Romero's Tottenham teammate Richarlison found himself in a similar scenario at the previous Olympics, held in the summer of 2021.
Richarlison was incredibly keen on representing his country Brazil at the Olympics, even though they fell so close to the start of the Premier League season.
The final took place on August 7, just a week before the start of the league campaign, but his former club Everton gave permission for him to travel to Tokyo, where Brazil won the gold medal.
Richarlison remained forever grateful to the club for allowing him to compete, and he returned to Merseyside and started Everton's first game of the campaign seven days later, scoring in a 3-1 win over Southampton.
The same scenario could transpire this summer, as the Olympic final will take place on August 10, before the Premier League season starts on August 17.
That could mean Romero will play almost non-stop throughout the summer, and not have any pre-season preparation at Spurs.
Richarlison's Olympic involvement may have had some effect on him missing seven games of the following season with injury, and Spurs may be wary of the risk to Romero too.
Andrew Delaney
