Spurs will be without their top scorer, talisman and skipper Heung-min Son, besides Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma for the month of January.
As far as Ange Postecoglou is concerned, losing his Asian and African stars to mid-season international tournaments is actually “a small price to pay” for having them at Tottenham, as he insists he would never rule out signing a player due to their nationality.
This Friday’s FA Cup third-round tie at home to Burnley will see Spurs without their captain Son and midfielders Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr for up to six weeks.
Son is on international duty with South Korea at the Asian Cup in Qatar, while Mali’s Bissouma and Senegal’s Sarr are both representing their nations at the Africa Cup of Nations, which runs concurrently in the Ivory Coast.
Although the absences of Son, Bissouma and Sarr may possibly dent Spurs’ hopes of a title push and first FA Cup since 199, Postecoglou played down the suggestion the club may have to avoid signing players from Asian or Africa in future.
“I’d hate for that to be the case because you’d miss out on some fantastic talent,” said Postecoglou, who used to manage his native Australia and won the Asian Cup in 2015.
“We’ve got a generational player from Asia that’s been representing our club. If we lose him every four years for five weeks, I think it’s a real small price to pay.
“I love international football, I think it’s important. I don’t like the way the calendar has been crammed, but the tournaments they are going to now are significant tournaments. They’re not sort of just thrown together in the last couple of years.
“The African Cup of Nations is very important and the Asia Cup is very important for these nations. You’ve got to understand these guys, this is where they were brought up. This is where a lot of who they are today comes from and when they go and represent their country and put their shirt on, it’s not just another game of football for them. So I’m sure Sonny and Pape would have loved to have been here with us, but it doesn’t diminish what they do there.
“I would never rule out somebody because they’re going to represent their country. I think representing your country helps a player develop both professionally and personally.”