Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim faces a selection headache when the Africa Cup of Nations starts this month with Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui and Amad set to feature
Bryan Mbeumo (middle) and Amad (second from left) will participate at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Bryan Mbeumo (middle) and Amad (second from left) will participate at the Africa Cup of Nations.
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Manchester United have been handed a boost after FIFA granted permission for clubs to delay stars heading to the Africa Cup of Nations. Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui and Amad are all set to travel to Morocco for the tournament but Ruben Amorim will be able to select them for slightly longer.
United will have their trio for a week longer, which could see them feature against Bournemouth on December 15, having initially been due to join up with their international teammates a week earlier. The Daily Mail has reported that players will report for duty around December 15, seven days later than the initial deadline.
The Portuguese tactician revealed recently that United would speak to the respective federations over a possible extension, in order to avoid losing star players for longer.
United will now have Amad, Mbeumo and Mazraoui available for selection for their clash against winless Wolves. If FIFA had denied the request for an extension, this week's visit from West Ham United would be the final time that the likes of Amad and Mbeumo could be selected.
The competition kicks off on December 21 before the knockout stages begin at the beginning of January. The latter stages will take place between January 9 and 10 then the semi-finals will be staged on January 14, while the championship match will be played on January 18 with the third-place playoff a day earlier.
Depending on how far the likes of Ivory Coast (Amad), Cameroon (Mbeumo) and the hosts Morocco (Mazraoui) go in the tournament, they will miss Aston Villa (December 21), Newcastle United (December 26) and the reverse fixture against Wolves (December 30) at the minimum.
United travel to Elland Road on January 4 before a trip to Lancashire to take on Burnley (January 7). Since signing from Brentford in the summer, Mbeumo has been everpresent for United - scoring five goals in 13 Premier League appearances.
Amad has featured in all but one match so far in the top-flight, this term. Meanwhile, Mazraoui has made seven appearances so far. Speaking in November, Amorim admitted that they would try to keep their stars as long as possible but would respect the rules.
"We have the rules, when we have to release the players, so we will see," he said.
“We are doing our job to try and maintain the players a little bit longer, but it is not just in our hands.
"We need to respect that, but we will try to do everything to protect the club, protect the players and protect the national team.
"I think it is two weeks before the start,” he added when asked specifically when those called up are set to join up with their national teams.
"So, we will try to arrange something with the federations, but we need to respect their rules in this case."