The Africa Cup of Nations tournament is a go, and as a result, a number of Premier League players were obligated to depart their club squads for the duration of their country's stay in the 2022 competition played in Cameroon.
The tournament was originally scheduled for the summer of 2021, but it was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were fears that it could be cancelled outright due to the rise in cases stemming from the omicron variant, but the determination was ultimately made to move forward with the tournament.
AFCON 2021 is taking place from January 9 to February 6, meaning players can miss up to a month of club soccer, plus any additional rest required following their stay in the competition. The tournament is being hosted in Cameroon, with six venues across five cities holding matches.
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Here are all the details on the players who departed the Premier League and what matches they could miss.
When do Premier League players leave for AFCON?
Clubs were not obligated to release players competing in the Africa Cup of Nations until January 3, meaning players were available for Premier League matches on New Year's weekend on Jan. 1-3, during which 16 of the 20 Premier League clubs had scheduled matches.
The first match of the AFCON competition took on January 9 between hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso, with Ethiopia and Cape Verde also playing on opening day. The schedule then calls for three to four group stage matches held each day. The Round of 16 kicks off on Sunday, Jan. 23.
Players will return to their clubs once their country is eliminated, so the players will trickle back into Premier League action as the month progresses, with those players reaching the final seeing the longest absences.
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Which Premier League players are leaving for AFCON?
A total of 16 of 20 Premier League clubs are experiencing a thinner squad for the coming month as players depart to compete in AFCON. Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Norwich City are the only four teams that will not be impacted.
After the 31 Premier League players were released, Arsenal, Leicester City, and Watford will be the hardest hit, all losing four players each, though Watford also refused to release Ismaila Sarr (Senegal) and Emmanuel Dennis (Nigeria). The Foxes seem to be the club with the most to lose, already very thin due to recent injury troubles. Arsenal will see a number of starters or critical squad players depart, while Liverpool will lose a pair of star attacking players.
Here is the full list of players leaving Premier League clubs after being called up for the tournament:
Arsenal
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon)
- Mohamed Elneny (Egypt)
- Thomas Partey (Ghana)
- Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast)
Aston Villa
- Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)
- Mahmoud Trezeguet (Egypt)
Brentford
- Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Brighton
- Yves Bissouma (Mali)
Burnley
- Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)
Chelsea
- Edouard Mendy (Senegal)
Hakim Ziyech is a regular member of the Morocco side but he was left out of the AFCON squad due to a rift with the national team head coach.
Crystal Palace
- Jordan Ayew (Ghana)
- Chiekhou Kouyate (Senegal)
- Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)
Everton
- Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
Leicester City
- Daniel Amartey (Ghana)
- Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)
- Nampalys Mendy (Senegal)
- Wilfried Ndidi (Nigeria)
Liverpool
- Naby Keita (Guinea)
- Sadio Mane (Senegal)
- Mohamed Salah (Egypt)
Manchester City
- Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Manchester United
- Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast)
Southampton
- Moussa Djenepo (Mali)
Watford
- Imran Louza (Morocco)
- Adam Masina (Morocco)
- Maduka Okoye (Nigeria)
- William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria)
Emmanuel Dennis was called into the Nigeria squad, but will not participate after the national team missed a deadline for informing Watford of his inclusion.
There was also a tug-of-war between club and country over Ismaila Sarr. The Senegalese federation has issued a statement revealing that Watford didn't release Sarr for the competition.
West Ham
- Said Benrahma (Algeria)
Wolves
- Willy Boly (Ivory Coast)
- Romain Saiss (Morocco)
Premier League AFCON player call-ups by nation
Ivory Coast and Nigeria have the most Premier League players on the squad than any other nation with five each. Senegal has a total of five EPL players on the roster.
Algeria (2):
- Said Benrahma (West Ham)
- Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Burkina Faso (1):
- Bertrand Traore (Aston Villa)
Egypt (3):
- Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal)
- Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
- Mahmoud Trezeguet (Aston Villa)
Gabon (1):
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Ghana (3):
- Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace)
- Daniel Amartey (Leicester City)
- Thomas Partey (Arsenal)
Guineau (1):
- Naby Keita (Liverpool)
Ivory Coast (5):
- Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
- Willy Boly (Wolves)
- Maxwel Cornet (Burnley)
- Nicolas Pepe (Arsenal)
- Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
Mali (2):
- Yves Bissouma (Brighton)
- Moussa Djenepo (Southampton)
Morocco (2):
- Imran Louza (Watford)
- Adam Masina (Watford)
- Romain Saiss (Wolves)
Nigeria (5):
- Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester City)
- Alex Iwobi (Everton)
- Wilfried Ndidi (Leicester City)
- Frank Onyeka (Brentford)
- William Troost-Ekong (Watford)
Senegal (4):
- Chiekhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace)
- Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
- Edouard Mendy (Chelsea)
- Nampalys Mendy (Leicester City)
Senegal revealed that Watford opted not to release Ismaila Sarr despite being required to based on FIFA rules.
