Chelsea and Tottenham have been handed potentially significant blows next summer, with the announcement that Italy are set to take on Argentina.
UEFA and CONMEBOL, the governing bodies for the game in Europe and South America, respectively, came together on Tuesday afternoon to announce the news.
The game will see the winners of Euro 2020, Italy, take on the recently crowned Copa America champions, Argentina, square off in a special clash - the first of a three-match agreement between the two federations.
A statement released by UEFA read: “UEFA and CONMEBOL have today announced the broadening of their existing cooperation as well as the staging of a match between the UEFA EURO 2020 winners Italy and the CONMEBOL Copa América 2021 winners Argentina during the international window in June 2022 at a venue to be confirmed.
“The organising of this match is part of the expansion of the cooperation between UEFA and CONMEBOL, which notably includes women’s football, futsal and youth categories, the exchange of referees, as well as technical training schemes.
“The agreement reached by the two organisations currently covers three editions of this match between the respective continental winners, and also includes the opening of a joint office in London, which will be in charge of coordinating projects of common interest.”
The match itself is set to have major implications for both Chelsea and Tottenham.
Ahead of a season that is set to be majorly disrupted by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar being staged in the winter, players from both sides could have dramatically shortened holidays.
Chelsea midfielder Jorginho was key as Italy lifted the Euro 2020 title against England. Meanwhile, Tottenham could potentially be set to lose the likes of Argentina's Pierluigi Gollini and Cristian Romero, should their loan deals be made permanent, whilst Giovani Lo Celso could also be set to travel.
