Ange Postecoglou says losing his Asian and African stars to mid-season tournaments is "a small price to pay" for having them at Tottenham, and insists he would never rule out signing a player on nationality.
Spurs will be without captain and talisman Heung-min Son and midfielders Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr for up to six weeks, starting with Friday's FA Cup third-round tie at home to Burnley.
Son is with South Korea at the Asian Cup in Qatar, while Mali's Bissouma and Senegal's Sarr are at the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs concurrently in the Ivory Coast.
Their absences may dent Spurs' hopes of a title push and first FA Cup since 1991 but Postecoglou played down the suggestion the club may have to avoid signing players from Asian or Africa in future.
“I’d hate for that to be the case because you’d miss out on some fantastic talent," said Postecoglou, who used to manage his native Australia and won the Asian Cup in 2015.
"We’ve got a generational player from Asia that’s been representing our club. If we lose him every four years for five weeks, I think it’s a real small price to pay.
"I love international football, I think it’s important. I don’t like the way the calendar has been crammed, but the tournaments they are going to now are significant tournaments. They’re not sort of just thrown together in the last couple of years.
"The African Cup of Nations is very important and the Asia Cup is very important for these nations. You’ve got to understand these guys, this is where they were brought up. This is where a lot of who they are today comes from and when they go and represent their country and put their shirt on, it’s not just another game of football for them. So I’m sure Sonny and Pape would have loved to have been here with us, but it doesn’t diminish what they do there.
"I would never rule out somebody because they’re going to represent their country. I think representing your country helps a player develop both professionally and personally.”
