Premier League clubs will stand firm and deny Argentina their request to have players rested ahead of the World Cup.
Lionel Messi and co are among the favourites to win the tournament in Qatar, and manager Lionel Scaloni is reportedly keen to maximise every opportunity to ensure that his side are as fresh as possible when heading to the Middle East.
Unfortunately for the Albiceleste , the Premier League will only be paused on Sunday, November 13 when English teams round out gameweek 16. That's prompted the Argentine Football Association to try their luck to have a host of stars left out of their club's squads in a bid to avoid injuries and fatigue like so many players have succumbed to in recent weeks.
According to The Mail, one Premier League side were even asked to release a player early but quickly dismissed the proposition. Six Argentina internationals play in the English top flight - Lisandro Martinez and Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United, Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa, the currently injured Cristian Romero of Tottenham, and Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton.
Scaloni's side face the United Arab Emirates in a friendly on Wednesday, November 16 before kicking off their Group C campaign in Qatar against Saudi Arabia six days later. The Albiceleste then face Mexico and Poland in a bid to reach the knockout stage, but it doesn't appear that they'll be getting an extra advantage.
FIFA rules state that clubs don't have to release their players until Monday, November 14, six days before the tournament begins when the hosts face Ecuador in Group A. News of Argentina's request comes off the heels of now-denied reports that their captain and talisman, Messi, has a clause in his contract with Paris Saint-Germain which allows him to join his national team's camp early.
Messi, now 35, has already confirmed that it'll be his last World Cup, aiming to win the tournament for the first time in his career. "There's some anxiety and nerves at the same time ... it is the last one," the former Barcelona hero told Star Plus.
"I don't know whether we are big favourites, but I believe Argentina is a candidate because of its history, which means even more now because of the way we got here," Messi added. "But in a World Cup anything can happen, all the matches are very difficult. It isn’t always the favourites who win it."
Have your say! Should the Premier League have paused earlier for the World Cup? Let us know in the comments section.
With big-name players such as Paul Pogba, N'Golo Kante and Diogo Jota already ruled out of the tournament, fears are growing as the winter contest draws closer. The World Cup's peculiar positioning in the football calendar has already caused a great deal of issues, with England boss Gareth Southgate potentially without two starters after they picked up serious injuries in the last month.
Defensive duo Kyle Walker and Reece James are both facing a race against time to be fit, with the Three Lions reportedly including the pair on their provisional 55-man squad list in the hope that they'll be able to feature. Many nations haven't made their rosters public, with the deadline for submitting their final 26-man squads coming on November 13.
