Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United are heading for collision with the Brazil national set-up.
Right after Premier League clubs announced they would not release their players to travel to red list countries for the international games, the Brazilian national team called up a list of substitutes.
That made it sound like manager Tite had no hope of counting on footballers from Chelsea, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
However, even though Brazil have a match tonight against Chile, it seems they’ll still fight to have the Premier League players in their squad for the upcoming games, probably with eye towards future windows as well.
Their decision is reported today by Globo Esporte. It’s said the national team will keep the names from the original list and it’s ‘expected’ FIFA will act by forcing the clubs to release their internationals.
That means that any side who do not agree to let their players go would be forbidden to use them for five days after the international break, as already previewed in FIFA’s rules.
So Chelsea’s Thiago Silva, Leeds United’s Raphinha, Liverpool’s Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City’s Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, and Manchester United’s Fred would all miss the fourth fixture of the Premier League.
The only exception would be Everton. The Toffees have a good relationship with Brazil after letting Richarlison take part in Copa America and the Olympics, so the CBF felt no need to confront them.
Following Brazil’s game against Chile tonight, they still face Argentina on Sunday and Peru next Thursday. So there’s plenty of time for Premier League players to join the squad.
