Arsenal could be without some key players at a crucial stage of the 2020-21 season due to the rescheduled Olympic Games as well as the African Nations Cup.
The African Nations Cup will revert back to a winter schedule in 2021 after Algeria won the 2019 competition in July, which means a couple of Arsenal’s high-profile stars will have to depart the club midway through the campaign to represent their nations in Cameroon.
Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be called up by Gabon if they qualify for the tournament. Aubameyang is his country’s all-time leading goalscorer with 25 in 61 caps and his departure would be a big blow at Arsenal considering his influence at the club.
This season, Aubameyang has scored 17 of Arsenal’s 40 Premier League goals, accounting for 43 per cent of their overall total.
Furthermore, barring injury, Nicolas Pepe is almost certain to be selected by Ivory Coast, who will be looking to perform far better than in 2019 when they were knocked out in the quarter-final.
Ivory Coast are traditionally regarded as one of the favourites to win the tournament but crashed out in the group stage in 2017 before falling short again last year.
Another potential issue which could weaken Arsenal’s attack during the campaign is the Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Olympics had been scheduled to take place between July and August this year but there have been reports that the 2021 edition of the games may occur during the spring rather than in the summer, which could wreak havoc on European clubs.
One Arsenal player who would have competed in Tokyo this summer is Gabriel Martinelli, following his promising performances for the Gunners during his debut campaign in English football.
The 19-year-old has scored ten goals in 26 games for Arsenal and would have formed a potent attack with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr and AC Milan’s Lucas Paqueta in Tokyo.
Arsenal will not be the only Premier League badly affected by both the African Nations Cup and Olympics and it will be interesting to see how the Premier League schedules fixtures next season following the halt in games this term.
