While European eyes focus on the Euros this summer, across the pond the 48th edition of the Copa America kicks off on June 20th when the holders Argentina take on Canada in Atlanta, Georgia.
On this occasion hosted by the United States, it’s a tournament that routinely offers up plenty of drama and sensational football and though Argentina are the favourites in the betting to win the competition for a record-breaking 16th time in reality a handful of sides are in the mix, all with a genuine claim to be crowned the kings of their continent.
If the tournament promises excitement galore it also has plenty of intrigue for Brits watching from afar because English sides have the highest proportion of players participating of any nation.
In total, 59 have been selected for their respective squads with 40 of them playing their club football in the Premier League.
Interestingly, Fulham have the most representatives, with five players, while Argentina are the most stacked with English top-flight residents.
Nine of their 26-man squad – a little over a third – ply their trade at Old Trafford, Anfield et al. Below is a full list of those players, but before that let’s highlight some of the more interesting examples.
Bruno Guimaraes (Brazil)
Amidst increasing chatter that Manchester City and Arsenal are each set to table nine-figure bids for the Newcastle ace, Guimaraes will no doubt view the tournament as a welcome distraction from all of the speculation.
The 26-year-old plays a more holding role for the Selecao than for the Magpies, which allows for Lucas Paqueta and A.N.Other to bomb forward and this explains why his stats decrease on the international stage.
He has assisted five times and scored just once in 25 outings, the bulk of them coming in a particularly fruitful period in 2022.
Brazil may be missing Neymar, but with the Real Madrid pairing of Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr up front, and the adopted Geordie pass-master behind, Group D should be a samba stroll.
From there, they will likely face the hosts in the quarters.
Tyler Adams (USA)
Few players experienced a more exasperating campaign last term than the USMNT captain.
Signing for Bournemouth last summer for £20m while convalescing from surgery the midfielder’s road to recovery hit one roadblock after another, delaying his debut for one month, then three, then six.
Indeed, it wasn’t until March when Adams first saw action in cherry red, successfully navigating 19 minutes against Luton.
On his full debut on the South Coast a fortnight later he was sensational, covering every blade of grass and deservedly winning the Man of the Match merit. Only then came a back spasm, that again turned into a long-running saga. Adams featured for another nine minutes all season.
Having seen a mere glimpse of what he’s capable of, Bournemouth fans will be hoping this summer is a preview of what’s to come. Mainly though they’ll be praying he returns to the Vitality Stadium unscathed.
Jhon Duran (Colombia)
Currently the subject of serious interest from Chelsea, the Colombian striker proved himself to be a clinical finisher last season, boasting the best shot conversion rate of any Premier League player who notched five goals or more.
Yet still he resided mostly on the bench, the 20-year-old forced to play second fiddle throughout due to Ollie Watkin’s career-best tally of goals and assists. It’s a similar tale at international level too, with Rafael Santos Borre and others typically getting the nod.
Remarkably, Duran has made only one start for Los Cafeteros, the rest of his appearances coming from the bench.
If he makes a success of it at Stamford Bridge surely then things will fall into place for a player who hints at enormous potential.
Darwin Nunez (Uruguay)
About once a week across the 2023/24 season an article would appear defending the Liverpool forward and claiming he was simply misunderstood.
He wasn’t a miss-merchant. Look at this stat. And that. The Latin Andy Carroll was actually a success if you squinted your eyes, and tilted your head, and forgot about the decimal point.
Well, no, that’s simply not the case. Nunez posted a significantly worse goals-per-min ratio than the hardly prolific Chris Wood. His 13% goal conversion rate was the worst by some distance of any player who reached double figures.
For his country however it’s an entirely different story, as eight goals in his last five outings illustrates.
If Uruguay are to top Group C – and in all likelihood then go on to avoid Brazil in the last eight – they will need their goal-merchant.
Julian Alvarez (Argentina)
The fixtures for 2024/25 are barely out and already Manchester City are hot favourites in the Premier League odds to secure yet another crown.
How can they not be, blessed as they are with Rodri holding, and Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden working their weekly magic. Up front meanwhile they possess a striker who can win a second Golden Boot despite having a poor season by his usual supernatural standards.
Yet from all of this stellar cast of elite fare it is only Alvarez who is a World Cup winner, the forward firing four in Qatar to help La Albiceleste conquer the planet.
The quietly-spoken hit-man notched six on his return that season for the Blues and followed that up with 11 in 2023/24. As for his country, even a prolonged drought in front of goal hasn’t stopped him being Lionel Messi’s preferred partner of choice.
Premier League Players At Copa America By Club:
Arsenal
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Gabriel Magalhaes, Brazil
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Gabriel Martinelli, Brazil
Aston Villa
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Emi Martinez, Argentina
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Douglas Luiz, Brazil
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Jhon Duran, Colombia
Bournemouth
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Tyler Adams, USA
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Luis Sinisterra, Colombia
Brentford
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Ethan Pinnock, Jamaica
Brighton
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Tom McGill, Canada
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Julio Enciso, Paraguay
Chelsea
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Enzo Fernandez, Argentina
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Moises Caicedo, Ecuador
Crystal Palace
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Chris Richards, USA
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Jefferson Lerma, Colombia
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Daniel Munoz, Colombia
Everton
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N/A
Fulham
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Luc De Fougerolles, Canada
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Bobby Decordova-Reid, Jamaica
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Antonee Robinson, USA
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Tim Ream, USA
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Andreas Pereira, Brazil
Ipswich
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Jeremy Sarmiento, Ecuador
Leicester
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N/A
Liverpool
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Alexis Mac Allister, Argentina
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Darwin Nunez, Uruguay
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Alisson Becker, Brazil
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Luis Diaz, Colombia
Manchester City
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Julian Alvarez, Argentina
Manchester United
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Alejandro Garnacho, Argentina
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Lisandro Martinez, Argentina
Newcastle
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Bruno Guimaraes, Brazil
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Miguel Almiron, Paraguay
Nottingham Forest
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Gonzalo Montiel, Argentina
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Matt Turner, USA
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Giovanni Reyna, USA
Southampton
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N/A
Tottenham
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Christian Romero, Argentina
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Giovani Lo Celso, Argentina
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Rodrigo Bentancur, Uruguay
West Ham
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Edson Alvarez, Mexico
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Michail Antonio, Jamaica
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Lucas Paqueta, Brazil
Wolves
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Joao Gomes, Brazil
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
