Arsenal duo handed Olympics call up – May miss the start of next season | OneFootball

Obviously it’s great to see your club’s player starring at a major international tournament, but the Olympics has always been an unusual one.

It’s the one time where football takes a back seat to most other sports so fewer people really care about it, while this summer also sees the Euro’s and the Copa America so it might receive less attention than usual.

It’s been confirmed that Arsenal duo Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes have been included in the Brazil squad for the tournament, and it could ruin their preparation for next season.

It could come down to how far Brazil go as the final of the competition is scheduled for August 8, and the Premier League is then set to kick off less than a week later so they’ll miss pre-season and need a rest.

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Realistically that means they’ll need a few weeks off and it could be a season where they are trying to get caught up with everyone else for fitness and form, so it’s a bittersweet one for the Gunners.

Brazil are one of the countries who take the Olympic tournament incredibly seriously and winners are treated as heroes so it would be huge for the duo if they can win a gold medal, but Arsenal could probably do without it.