The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is fast approaching, with the 24-team tournament set to kick off in Morocco later this month.
Holders Ivory Coast will look to defend the title they won in extraordinary fashion almost two years ago, having sacked their manager midway through the tournament.
The tournament is set to run through until the middle of January, meaning that several Premier League clubs will be without key players in the often hectic festive and New Year period.
Six rounds of Premier League fixtures are due to take place between the tournament dates, as well as the FA Cup third round and Carabao Cup semi-final first legs, meaning that there is a total of eight matches some players may miss.
Around 50 African players currently play in the Premier League, but not everyone is involved due to selection, injury or their nation not qualifying for the finals.
Get personalised updates on Aston Villa every day
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
So how could each club be affected? Let’s find out…
How Premier League clubs could be affected by AFCON
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta’s side have no African players currently in their first-team squad.
Aston Villa
Forward Evann Guessand, who signed over the summer from Nice, has not been named in Ivory Coast’s initial 26-man squad, but is on standby in case of pre-tournament withdrawals.
Bournemouth
Amine Adli was not named in the Morocco squad and will therefore remain with Andoni Iraola’s squad. Antonie Semenyo will stay with Bournemouth, too, after Ghana failed to qualify for the finals.
Brentford
Club-record signing Dango Outtara has been named in the final Burkina Faso squad, whilst midfielder Frank Onyeka has been called up by Nigeria.
Brighton
Cameroon have called up Carlos Baleba to their squad. The midfielder has been a virtual ever-present in Fabian Hurzelers’s side this season.
But Yankuba Minteh‘s Gambia did not qualify.
Burnley
Scott Parker’s men will be without Axel Tuanzebe, who has been called up by DR Congo, Lyle Foster, who will be featuring for South Africa, and Hannibal Mejbri, who is in the Tunisia squad.
Chelsea
The Blues have no African players currently in their first-team squad.
Crystal Palace
Cheick Doucoure (Mali), Chadi Riad (Morocco), Christantus Uche (Nigeria) were not named in their respective nation’s AFCON squads and so will remain with Palace.
Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) is potentially set to feature, but has emerged as a late doubt after picking up a knock against Manchester United last month.
Everton
Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye are expected to be called up to Senegal’s squad, but summer signing Adam Aznou will not feature for Morocco.
Fulham
Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze have all been named in Nigeria’s squad for AFCON.
Leeds United
Daniel Farke’s squad contains no African players.
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah will be a big miss for Arne Slot’s side when he joins up with Egypt for the tournament.
Manchester City
Pep Guardiola’s side will be without Omar Marmoush, who joins Salah in the Egyptian side.
Manchester United
United will lose two key wide players – Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) and Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast) – along with defender Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco)
Newcastle
Newcastle will have no players at AFCON after Yoanne Wissa was not named in DR Congo’s squad due to his ongoing injury problems.
Nottingham Forest
Ola Aina has not been passed fit to be named in Nigeria’s squad, while Taiwo Awoniyi misses out on the SUper Eagles’ final squad.
But Forest will be without Willy Boly and Ibrahim Sangare, who were named in Ivory Coast’s squad.
Sunderland
Sunderland are ont of the most affected by his year’s AFCON.
Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki are both in DR Congo’s squad, while Chemsdine Talbi has also been called up by Morocco.
Reinildo (Mozambique) and Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso) will also be at the tournament, while Habib Diarra could still be called up by Senegal.
Simon Adingra will not be at the tournament, though, after missing out on Ivory Coast’s squad.
Tottenham
Central midfielders Pape Matr Sarr (Senegal) and Yves Bissouma (Mali) are expected to be at the tournament, but Thomas Frank will still have Mohammed Kudus, though, after Ghana failed to qualify.
West Ham
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been called up by DR Congo, while fellow full-back El Hadji Malick Diouf is expcted to play for Senegal.
Wolves
Jackson Tchatchoua was not named in the Cameroon squad, whileNigeria striker Tolu Arokodare also missed out.
However, Zimbabwe duo Marshall Munetsi and Tawanda Chirewa, as well as Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Agbadou, will all feature in the tournament.
When does AFCON start? Full schedule
AFCON is set to start on December 21, with the final held in the New Year on January 18. The full schedule is as follows:
Group Stages: December 21 to December 31
Last 16: January 3 to January 6
Quarter-finals: January 9 and January 10
Semi-finals: January 14
Third-place play-off: January 17
Final: January 18
AFCON groups
Group A: Comoros, Mali, Morocco, Zambia.
Group B: Angola, Egypt, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
Group C: Nigeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda.
Group D: Benin, Botswana, DR Congo, Senegal.
Group E: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan.
Group F: Cameroon, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mozambique.
When do players need to be released by their clubs?
Premier League clubs have to release their players for AFCON duty by December 15.
How to watch AFCON on TV
Viewers in the UK can keep up with all the AFCON action via Channel 4 who will show the entirety of the tournament for free.
All matches will be live across Channel 4’s network, airing on Channel 4, E4, 4Seven, streaming and Channel 4 Sport YouTube.
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
