Premier League Teams That Will Lose Most Players To AFCON

The Africa Cup of Nations kicks off earlier than usual this year, with up to 17 Premier League clubs set to be affected by players jetting off to host country Morocco.

The tournament runs from 21 December until 18 January.

Nigerian and African internationals preparing for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations will remain with their clubs for an extra week after FIFA confirmed that players will now be released no later than December 15, easing concerns across European leagues.

The ruling means Super Eagles stars such as Victor Osimhen, Ademola Lookman, Samuel Chukwueze, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and others expected at the tournament in Morocco will be available for club duties deeper into the festive fixture schedule.

Players could miss up to six, or in some cases seven, Premier League matches, plus FA Cup and Carabao Cup games,if they reach the final.

The group stages end on 31 December, so quickly eliminated players may only miss half that amount.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds do not have any players due to play in the 2025 AFCON,  with Sunderland and Wolves losing the most players.

LEADERSHIP Sports looks at which teams are due to lose players.

Aston Villa (1)

Villa’s only player at AFCON will be Ivory Coast forward Evann Guessand.

However, the 24-year-old has only started five Premier League matches so Villa will be confident of coping without him.

Bournemouth (1)

Like Villa, Bournemouth should not be too affected by AFCON.

Attacking midfielder Amine Adli is likely to be in the Morocco squad. But the 25-year-old has started only one Premier League match since his summer arrival.

Fortunately for boss Andoni Iraola, his star man Antoine Semenyo’s Ghana did not qualify for the competition.

Brentford (1)

Brentford will have two players going off to AFCON including one first-team regular.Club-record signing Dango Ouattara will feature for Burkina Faso.

Brighton (1)

Brighton must do without Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba, who has started nearly every game for Albion this season.

Burnley (3)

Burnley will have three players at the tournament

Former England Under-21 defender Axel Tuanzebe will be playing for DR Congo at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Striker Lyle Foster could feature for South Africa, while playmaker Hannibal Mejbri is in line to represent Tunisia at the tournament.

Crystal Palace (1-4)

The biggest blow for Crystal Palace will be the loss of Senegal winger Ismaila Sarr, who has scored eight goals in all competitions this season.

Then they have three maybes.Forward Christantus Uche, who has only featured as a substitute for Palace so far, is a Nigeria international,who has been named in Eric Chelle’s 31 man provisional squad for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Neither Morocco defender Chadi Riad nor Mali midfielder Cheick Doucoure have played a competitive game of football since January following serious knee injuries.

Whoever does go will miss Palace’s Carabao Cup quarter-final with Arsenal on 23 December.

Everton (2-3)

Everton will lose two members of their starting XI both to Senegal – four-goal forward Iliman Ndiaye and midfielder Idrissa Gueye.

Young defender Adam Aznou has not been in a Morocco squad since his summer move from Bayern Munich to Merseyside.

Beto is a Guinea-Bissau international but they did not qualify.

Fulham (3)

Fulham will see three players all go off to join the Nigeria squad.

Midfielder Alex Iwobi and defender Calvin Bassey have played every game in the league this season, while winger Samuel Chukwueze has only been used off the bench.

Liverpool (1)

Defending champions Liverpool will only lose one player to AFCON – but that one player is one of their greatest footballers ever.

Mohamed Salah, who has scored five times so far in an underwhelming campaign, will certainly be in the Egypt squad.

Manchester City (2)

Title-chasing City have two players going off to AFCON, but neither have played all that much this season because of injury.

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush has started two Premier League games, with three starts for Algeria left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Manchester United (3)

Manchester United’s right-hand side will have a very different look to it over the festive period.

Cameroon forward Bryan Mbeumo and two players who have featured at right wing-back – Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo and Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui – are all heading off next month.

Newcastle (0-1)

The only potential departure for Newcastle is a player who has yet to play for the club.

DR Congo forward Yoane Wissa, a summer signing from Brentford, injured his knee on international duty in September.

A return is thought to be imminent, although there are reports DR Congo will not call him up.

Nottingham Forest (1-4)

Nottingham Forest have up to four players who will leave for Afcon – but it could be as low as one.

Midfielder Ibrahim Sangare is certain to be in the Ivory Coast squad, while defender Willy Boly will hope to be but has barely played this season – and was not in their most recent squad.

Full-back Ola Aina and forward Taiwo Awoniyi are both Nigeria internationals. But Aina has not played since hamstring surgery in September, Awoniyi is included in the Super Eagles provisional squad.

Sunderland (7)

This season’s surprise package,Sunderland will be the worst affected team by far by AFCON 2025 with seven players due to leave.

They are Morocco winger Chemsdine Talbi, Senegal midfielder Habib Diarra, Mozambique full-back Reinildo, Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra, Burkina Faso forward Bertrand Traore and DR Congo pair Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki.

The majority of them are first-team regulars, with 50 Premier League appearances between them this season.

Diarra has been out since September through injury.

Tottenham Hotspur (1-2)

Tottenham might have two midfielders going off to AFCON – Senegal’s Pape Matar Sarr and Mali’s Yves Bissouma.

Bissouma has not played for Spurs this season and had ankle surgery in October.

Mohammed Kudus will be available for his club because Ghana failed to qualify.

West Ham (2)

Struggling West Ham will lose both of their starting full-backs for a few weeks.

Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka will link up with DR Congo, while left-back El Hadji Malick Diouf will play for Senegal.

Wolves (5)

Wolves are bottom of the Premier League and without a win – and five players will jet off.

Zimbabwe pair Marshall Munetsi and Tawanda Chirewa, Ivory Coast defender Emmanuel Agbadou, Nigeria striker Tolu Arokodare and Cameroon full-back Jackson Tchatchoua will all be heading off.

Chirewa has not played for Wolves this season, but the rest are all regulars.