England boss Gareth Southgate is heading for a club-vs-country series on the eve of the European Championships, with Tottenham and Newcastle intending to take their international stars to Australia.
The Premier League rivals play a friendly at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday 22 May. They will make the 10,000 kilometer journey immediately following the final round of league fixtures three days earlier.
However, Southgate is set to name his provisional England squad for the European Championships on May 21 and Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon and Tottenham’s James Maddison will be in contention.
We understand that both clubs expect all players who are fit and available to travel to Australia on a tour seen as key to commercial gains.
That is unlikely to please Southgate, whose squad will assemble the following week ahead of a friendly against Bosnia at St James’ Park on June 3. They face Iceland at Wembley three days later before the final squad is submitted on June 8.
Gareth Southgate is heading for a club-vs-country row on the eve of the European Championship
Newcastle and Tottenham intend to play a post-season friendly in Australia on May 22
It is understood both clubs expect all players who are fit and available to travel to Melbourne
While Spurs return to the UK after the game against Newcastle, Eddie Howe and his side will stay for an exhibition match with the A-League All Stars on May 24.
It raises the possibility of the likes of Trippier and Gordon – and potentially Nick Pope and Callum Wilson – spending the week that would normally be spent on holiday instead of traveling to and from the other side of the world.
Gordon could, in theory, have played 52 games for club and country this season, plus the six from last summer’s European Under-21 Championship, after which he skipped a holiday to return to pre-season. It risks burning out before a ball has been kicked in Germany.
Kieran Trippier (left) and Anthony Gordon (right) could travel to the game in Melbourne
This could mean that several of his key stars travel long distances a week before the EC
It is not just England’s chieftains who will be concerned. Newcastle players Martin Dubravka (Slovakia) and Fabian Schar (Switzerland) as well as Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark), Radu Dragusin (Romania), Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies (Wales) and Micky van de Den (Netherlands) could all be involved at the EC, which starts on 14 June.
There are also the South American stars set to play at the Copa America in June, including the Brazilian quartet of Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton, Richarlison and Emerson Royal.