Ange Postecoglou confirms Tottenham could stop Cristian Romero from taking part in the Olympics

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou said the club could stop Cristian Romero from playing for Argentina at the Olympics and would “strongly” advise the defender to take a break instead.

Romero said he would “love” to be among his country's three over-23s for the tournament at the Paris Games, which take place from July 24 to August 10, just a week before the start of the new Premier League season end up .

It is already certain that the Spurs vice-captain will be included in Argentina's squad for the Copa America, which begins in mid-June and ends on July 15, and Postecoglou wants Romero to be fresh for the “big season” ahead.

“The Olympics are a slightly different issue because clubs are not obliged to let players go to the Olympics,” Postecoglou said.

“From this perspective, we have a little more say than other national players. Of course, as a club we will always make sure that there is a balance.”

“He hasn't spoken to me about it, nobody has spoken to me about it, but I think it would be pretty strong advice if the Copa America is going on at the same time and hopefully we're preparing for a big season next year.” I suggest that calm is a better policy.

Tottenham's controversial plans for a post-season friendly against Newcastle in Melbourne on May 22, three days after the end of the season, have already increased the demands on their international players ahead of summer tournaments.

Postecoglou says he was involved in the decision to visit his hometown and insists the club carefully weighed up the pros and cons.

“I suspect that with all of these decisions there will always be conjecture and consideration as to why they are made,” he said.

“But from our perspective, like any club, you weigh up the benefits and costs of doing something. For one reason or another we haven't had many games this year and there was a unique opportunity for us to host a game at the end of the year.

“I am of course part of this discussion and we pay attention to the players and the schedule. We weighed everything up and thought it would be really beneficial for us as a football club and we went that route.”

The story goes on

Spurs return to action with a visit to Luton Town on Saturday and Postecoglou expects a shot at his side from the struggling Hatters, who are looking to bounce back from a sobering 3-0 defeat at Fulham before the international break.

“You hear a lot of coaches say they’re going to attack with all their might, but Rob [Edwards, Luton boss] backs up his words with actions,” Postecoglou said.

“When I saw them play against City, Liverpool or Arsenal, one of the top clubs, they were still very aggressive. They will be very aggressive against us and we have to be ready for that.

“I said after that [Fulham] In this game we didn't work as hard as in other games.

“It was probably the first game this year where I felt like our level of competition wasn't where it should have been and when that's not the case there's going to be a price to pay. We did that on the day and I thought Fulham did well.”

“We discussed it with the boys and tomorrow we need to get back to where we were after a tough game.”