Sports Mole takes a look at every Premier League player competing for their countries at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
With pre-season preparations already disrupted by Euro 2024 and the Copa America, not all Premier League clubs have been receptive to countries summoning their players for the Paris 2024 Olympics, and understandably so.
As the tournament runs from July 24 to August 9, teams can forget about having their Olympians ready for the first game of the Premier League season even if they fall at the group-stage hurdle, and clubs are under no obligation to release players for the Games due to it being outside the official window for international football.
However, a select handful of Premier League performers – some who play prominent roles for their clubs and others who are only on the periphery – will be going for gold in the French capital, where a new men’s champion will be crowned owing to Brazil’s failure to qualify.
Here, Sports Mole looks at every Premier League player competing for their nations at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
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Chelsea were originally due to have two male players taking part at this year’s Olympics, but the Blues have now recalled French midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu amid suggestions that he could be set for a loan move away from Stamford Bridge.
However, fledgling goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina will be flying the flag high for the USA in Paris, having unsurprisingly missed out on a place in the Stars and Stripes’ squad for their short-lived Copa America campaign.
Still waiting to make his competitive debut for Enzo Maresca‘s side – making eight appearances for the Under-21s in 2022-23 – Slonina heads to the Olympics on the back of a mixed loan spell with Belgian side Eupen, where he kept just five clean sheets in 34 games.
Whether the 20-year-old is integrated into the Chelsea setup or loaned out again remains to be seen, but his primary focus for the next fortnight will be battling Patrick Schulte of the Columbus Crew for the number one spot in Paris.
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No doubt the most high-profile Premier League player competing at the 2024 Games, Manchester City and Argentina Julian Alvarez travels to the French capital having already secured one major international medal this summer.
The 24-year-old collected his second Copa America title with La Albiceleste at the 2024 edition, where he contributed two goals in five matches for the reigning world champions, including one of his side’s two strikes in their semi-final success over Canada.
One of three overage players in the Argentina ranks, Alvarez now bids to follow in the footsteps of two legendary attackers before him, as Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero both became Olympic gold medallists at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Having been forced to accept playing second fiddle to Erling Haaland at Manchester City, Alvarez – who has been heavily linked with a transfer elsewhere in the summer window – will welcome the responsibility of being Argentina’s chief attacking threat in Paris.
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Another Premier League attacker to compete for Copa America stardom this summer, Brighton & Hove Albion’s Julio Enciso started all of Paraguay‘s group games, even bagging a goal against Colombia in their opening affair.
However, Enciso could not prevent his nation from losing all three of their group ties and crashing out at the first hurdle, but the promising 20-year-old now has a shot at international redemption in an intriguing Group D at the Olympics.
Paraguay will scrap with Israel, Japan and Mali for the right to progress to the quarter-finals in Paris, where Enciso will endeavour to set Europe alight once more following an indifferent 2023-24 season with the Seagulls.
Cruelly struck down by a serious knee injury at the start of the campaign, Enciso played just 15 times for Brighton last term – providing two assists – but he memorably won the Premier League’s Goal of the Season prize for 2022-23 with a fabulous effort against Manchester City.
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France boss Thierry Henry has suffered setback after setback with clubs refusing to release their Bleus stars for their home games, but Crystal Palace had no qualms about letting Jean-Philippe Mateta represent his nation after an unforeseen revival last season.
The former Mainz 05 man was previously tipped to end his time at Selhurst Park this summer, only to explode under Oliver Glasner and end the Premier League campaign with 16 goals to his name, including 13 from his last 13 games.
Capped by France at Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level, Mateta’s Crystal Palace renaissance was not enough to catch the eye of Didier Deschamps before Euro 2024, and he is still waiting for his senior Bleus debut.
However, the 27-year-old is now set to engage in a fascinating battle for attacking supremacy at the Olympics, where he could either compete with or partner ex-Arsenal captain Alexandre Lacazette at the tip of Henry’s attack.
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The only Premier League team with more than one player competing in the French capital, Wolves will be without Mali midfielder Boubacar Traore and Paraguay attacker Enso Gonzalez for their pre-season period.
The former made his Molineux stay permanent last summer following a loan spell from Metz and made 27 appearances for Gary O’Neil‘s side in all tournaments, although he played just seven Premier League games from the first whistle.
Traore makes his Olympic debut one year on from captaining Mali to a third-placed finish at the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations, and he will come face-to-face with 19-year-old teammate Gonzalez when Paraguay and Mali clash in Group D.
The 2005-born winger joined Wolves from Libertad last summer and made his Premier League debut in the penultimate weekend of the season, coming off the bench for the final minute of a 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace.
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Gonzalez’s one minute for Wolves is still one more than Alex Paulsen has earned for Bournemouth, although the 22-year-old New Zealand goalkeeper only joined the Cherries from Wellington Phoenix at the start of the month.
Paulsen was snapped up by Andoni Iraola‘s side after helping the Phoenix reach the Australian A-League Finals last season, signing a four-year deal at the Vitality Stadium and commanding a transfer fee of approximately £1.9m.
Standing at 6ft 4in tall, Paulsen earned his first senior cap for New Zealand in a 3-0 friendly win over the Solomon Islands last month, having previously guarded the sticks for the 9-0 thrashing of Fiji that sealed his nation’s place at the Olympics.
