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Tottenham and Newcastle risk wrath of England boss Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2024
Tottenham and Newcastle will jet off on a 20,000-mile round trip a little over a week before England's Euro 2024 squad gathers for the first time.
Tottenham and Newcastle are set to upset Football Association chiefs by insisting that their international stars travel on a post-season tour of Australia. The likes of James Maddison, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon will face a tight turnaround after the trip if they are included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for Euro 2024.
The Premier League rivals will meet in a friendly in Melbourne on Wednesday, May 22. It falls three days after the final day of the top-flight campaign, with the two sides set to make the long flight within 24 hours of their last matches.
Southgate will name his provisional squad for the summer’s tournament on May 21. Maddison, Trippier and Gordon are all in contention to make the cut.
The squad will gather the week after the meeting between Spurs and Newcastle, with a friendly against Bosnia pencilled in for June 3. England then face Iceland at Wembley three days later before Southgate names a final 23-man squad for Euro 2024 on June 8.
According to the Daily Mail, Spurs and Newcastle expect all of their players to travel to Australia if they are fit to do so. The match is reportedly viewed as key to the two clubs’ commercial gains.
That stance is likely to frustrate Southgate and his staff, with players who travel to Australia given very little time to relax after a gruelling Premier League campaign. The 53-year-old will be praying that none of his stars pick up injuries that rule them out of the summer’s tournament.
There could also be a selection dilemma ahead of the game against Bosnia, with the Three Lions manager hoping to get his best team on the pitch to hone their game plan ahead of the Euros.
Manchester City, Arsenal and Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid could compete in the Champions League final on June 1. That could see Southgate’s options further diminished ahead of a crucial pair of preparatory friendlies.
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Spurs are reportedly expected to return from Australia immediately after their game against Newcastle. However, the Magpies will stay on and have scheduled a friendly against an A-League All-Stars team on May 24.
A 20,000-mile round trip will not be viewed as a suitable precursor to England’s pre-tournament friendlies. Players from across the top five European leagues have already complained about the amount of matches being added to the calendar over the past few years.
Meanwhile, the Three Lions will play Brazil on Saturday before hosting Belgium on Tuesday. Southgate suffered a blow when Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka withdrew from the squad as a precautionary measure on Friday morning.