Juventus president Andrea Agnelli and Napoli’s Aurelio De Laurentiis are ‘considering’ refusing to allow their players to join their international team-mates for the upcoming set of fixtures, while PSG boss Thomas Tuchel have also expressed their concerns.
Despite the busy run of fixtures clubs need to deal with, most countries are set to compete in three matches during the upcoming international break. Italy, for example, play Estonia in a friendly on Wednesday, followed by Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Nations League.
Juventus and Napoli are considering following in Werder Bremen’s footsteps / Laszlo Szirtesi/Getty Images
Three matches in the space of a week, including travel time and training, will take its toll on players, potentially leading to fatigue or injury. As a result, Il Corriere dello Sport (via Football Italia) reports that Juventus’ Agnelli and Napoli’s De Laurentiis are considering ignoring international call-ups for their players just for the upcoming break.
It’s also worth noting that Inter CEO Beppe Marotta has already voiced his concerns about the issues that have arisen, and Agnelli and De Laurentiis have now followed suit. However, they are very much considering following in the footsteps of Werder Bremen, who have themselves refused to allow five players to join their national squad.
It comes as Paris Saint-Germain boss Tuchel has taken the opportunity to question Brazil’s and France’s decisions to call up Neymar and Kylian Mbappe respectively for upcoming internationals despite their injury struggles.
Both Mbappe and Neymar were out of PSG’s clash with RB Leipzig / Pool/Getty Images
Speaking ahead of PSG’s clash with Rennes on Saturday, Tuchel told reporters, as quoted by Sky Sports: “It will be a good opportunity to let a few players recover. But we are also confident that the national teams take good care of the players.”
Neymar suffered a back injury during the 2-0 Champions League win over Istanbul Basaksehir in late October, and has not featured since. Mbappe, meanwhile, missed Les Parisiennes’ defeat by RB Leipzig after picking up a hamstring injury during last weekend’s win over Nantes.
With the international break representing an opportunity for both players to take some time to regain their match fitness ahead of another brutal run of fixtures, Tuchel was disappointed with the decision to call up his star men from Brazil and France. are