Two clubs, the defending champions Manchester City and Newcastle will be the only English Premier League sides that will not be affected when the Africa Cup of Nations kicks off in Cote d’Ivoire. Both clubs have no players involved.
Potentially, 40 players are projected to miss the Premier League actions as long as their teams last at the continental football fiesta holding in Cote d’Ivoire.
The team that will be worst hit is Nottingham Forest where the duo of Super Eagles players – Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi feature.
Apart from the Nigerian players, the club has five other African players heading to Cote d’Ivoire in January. In all, the club will miss seven players.
Manchester United will lose three players including first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana, while Liverpool are set to lose star man Mohamed Salah.
The Africa Cup of Nations takes place from 13 January to 11 February 2024
Here’s a full list of players who could be heading to next year’s tournament, who have made at least one matchday squad for their respective clubs so far this season.
Arsenal (two)
Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Thomas Partey (Ghana)
Aston Villa (one)
Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
Bournemouth (three)
Hamed Traore (Ivory Coast), Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Antoine Semenyo (Ghana)
Brentford (three)
Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Brighton (three)
Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast), Tariq Lamptey (Ghana), Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)
Burnley (two)
Lyle Foster (South Africa), Anass Zaroury (Morocco)
Chelsea (one)
Nicolas Jackson (Senegal)
Crystal Palace (three)
Jordan Ayew (Ghana), Jeffrey Schlupp (Ghana), Cheick Doucoure (Mali)
Everton (two)
Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Abdoulaye Doucoure (Mali)
Fulham (three)
Fodo Ballo-Toure (Senegal), Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
Liverpool (two)
Joel Matip (Cameroon), Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Luton Town (two)
Issa Kabore (Burkina Faso), Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu (DR Congo)
Manchester United (three)
Andre Onana (Cameroon), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia), Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco)
Nottingham Forest (seven)
Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast), Moussa Niakhate (Senegal), Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Ola Aina (Nigeria), Taiwo Awonyi (Nigeria)
Sheffield United (four)
Ismaila Coulibaly (Mali), Anis Ben Slimane (Tunisia), Benie Traore (Ivory Coast), Yasser Larouci (Algeria)
Tottenham (two)
Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), Yves Bissouma (Mali)
West Ham (four)
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana), Said Benrahma (Algeria), Nayef Aguerd (Morocco), Maxwell Cornet (Ivory Coast)
Wolverhampton Wanderers (two)
Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria), Boubacar Traore (Mali)