Tottenham are bracing themselves for their pre-season preparations being affected by players’ involvement in the Olympic football tournament.
Team GB coach Stuart Pearce is thought to be keen on Gareth Bale, who is on the long-list of 80 players along with Steven Caulker, the defender who has returned from a season’s loan at Swansea, and midfielder Jake Livermore.
Both Caulker and Livermore are understood to be interested in playing in the tournament, while Kyle Walker will come into contention, fitness permitting, after a broken toe ruled him out of the England squad for Euro 2012. Sandro also has a good chance of being included in Brazil’s squad.
Spurs are trying to put together their squad for next season but the possible absence of so many players would be a headache.
Walker, Bale and Sandro are all key members of the first team, Livermore won the trust of Harry Redknapp last season and Caulker hopes to do likewise after performing well for Swansea.
Pearce’s next task is to settle on a final 18-man squad, for which he is permitted to choose three players over the age of 23. Pearce will name his squad in the next few weeks and Team GB have a warm-up match against Brazil at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough, on July 20. They then begin their campaign for a gold medal in a group containing Uruguay and Senegal — two strong contenders — and the United Arab Emirates.
If Team GB progress to the final, players would be away from their clubs until August 11. The Premier League season begins on August 18, while the Spurs players not taking part in the European Championships will report for pre-season early in July.
