Olympics 2020: Which Premier League players are involved in Tokyo tournament?

The Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 were delayed by a year thanks to the global Covid-19 pandemic, but the men’s football tournament kicked off on July 22, 2021.

Plenty of big-hitters are competing in the tournament, including Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Spain, with a number of well-known stars representing their countries.

It will run until August 7, meaning it concludes just a week before the Premier League season begins. Understandably, some coaches are not keen on their players being involved and some have vetoed call-ups – which happened with Mohamed Salah and Egypt.

However, others have acquiesced to their players’ desires to play at the tournament. Goal takes a look at which Premier League players are taking part.

Arsenal | Gabriel Martinelli

One Arsenal player will compete at the Olympics this summer and he happens to be someone who is expected very much to be part of Mikel Arteta’s plans.

Gabriel Martinelli has been included in the Brazil squad for the tournament and the striker will be eager to play his part in a difficult group containing Germany, Ivory Coast and Saudi Arabia.

A highly-rated prospect who placed sixth on NXGN 2020, the 20-year-old’s last few seasons have been disrupted by injuries, but Gunners fans will have high hopes that he can hit the ground running in 2021-22.

Gunners defender Gabriel Magalhaes was also due to represent Brazil at the tournament, but injury forced him out of the squad.

Aston Villa | Douglas Luiz

Aston Villa fans will be watching on anxiously as midfielder Douglas Luiz represents Brazil at the Olympics.

Luiz has been a key player for the Villans in the Premier League in recent seasons and made 33 league appearances in 2020-21, chipping in with two assists.

Interestingly, he was also part of Brazil’s Copa America squad this summer and played in two games at the tournament, so he will have a lot of air miles clocked up by the time he returns to Villa Park.

Burnley | Chris Wood

Chris Wood has been Burnley’s star striker for a number of seasons and Sean Dyche will hope that the burly target man comes back from Tokyo unscathed.

Wood is one of New Zealand’s three over-age players and they will feel they have a decent chance of getting out of their group, which also contains Romania, South Korea and Honduras.

The 29-year-old has been ever-present for the Clarets over the past four campaigns, averaging 11.5 Premier League goals a season in that period.

Listen to “All of US: The U.S. Women’s Soccer Show” on Spreaker.

Brighton | Alexis MacAllister & Tudor Baluta

Argentina have included Brighton midfielder Alexis MacAllister in their Olympics squad and he is expected to be a prominent figure as they look for their third set of gold medals.

He scored a fantastic goal for the Albiceleste in their warm-up fixture against South Korea and is primed to shine.

While not a nailed-on…