Which Premier League players are going to AFCON? Man Utd & Sunderland among teams most affectedplaceholder image
Which Premier League players are going to AFCON? Man Utd & Sunderland among teams most affected | Getty Images
All the Premier League players who could be leaving for AFCON 2025 - and how long they could be gone.
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations gets underway in Morocco on 21 December – and it could have a huge impact on the Premier League season, with a number of star players set to leave their clubs, perhaps for over a month in the midst of the busiest part of the top flight calendar.
Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Sunderland are among the sides who will be affected, but which players are set to head off on international duty, and how long will they be away for? We’ve got all of the answers below before the greatest show in African football gets going.
When does AFCON start and finish – and when do Premier League players leave?
We’re just over a fortnight away from the opening game of the 2025 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, with hosts Morocco taking on Comoros at 19:00 GMT on 21 December. The group stage, in which all 24 qualified teams will compete, will run until 31 December, meaning that the earliest point at which Premier League players could return home to their parent clubs is 1 January, depending on how well their nations get on.
The knock-out rounds then run until the final, which takes place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital city of Rabat on 18 January. As a result, players who make it all the way through the tournament won’t be back in England until mid-to-late January.
Premier League teams are allowed to keep hold of their players until 15 December at the latest, at which point they must be released to their international teams – so the last weekend in which clubs can call upon their best African players will be 13-14 December.
That means that the two teams playing on the Monday of that weekend – Manchester United and Bournemouth – will be disproportionately affected, as they will have their players for one match less. Some teams, however, may release their players early anyway.
As a result of the schedule, Premier League clubs could be forced to make do without their players for up to six league matches (seven for Manchester United and Bournemouth), the third round of the FA Cup and potentially the quarter-finals and semi-final first leg of the EFL Cup as well, while teams in European competitions may be without their stars for two rounds of continental fixtures.
Which Premier League players are expected to go to AFCON 2025?
We’re still waiting for most of the competing nations to confirm their squads, so there could still be some surprises, but many Premier League teams have established international stars that are expected to be on their way to Morocco.
Some countries, including Cameroon, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have already named their 28-man squads for the tournament – meaning that we know about at least one surprise. Due to a lack of fitness and match time, Newcastle United’s Yoane Wissa hasn’t been called up to the tournament, meaning that he will be able to feature for the Magpies over the festive and new year period. Tottenham Hotspur’s Yves Bissouma, Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina and Crystal Palace’s Ismaïla Sarr are also injury doubts, although their presence or absence in their respective squads remains unconfirmed.
Meanwhile, Ghana and Gambia are among the countries who failed to qualify, meaning that players such as Antoine Semenyo, Mohammed Kudus and Yankuba Minteh won’t be going anywhere either.
Here’s the full list of Premier League players who could be on their way to AFCON 2025 by team.
Arsenal: None.
Aston Villa: Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast).
Bournemouth: Amine Adli (Morocco).
Brentford: Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso) & Frank Onyeka (Nigeria).
Brighton & Hove Albion: Carlos Baleba (Cameroon).
Chelsea: None.
Crystal Palace: Chadi Riad (Morocco), Cheick Doucouré (Mali), Christantus Uche (Nigeria) & Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal).
Everton: Adam Aznou (Morocco), Idrissa Gueye & Iliman Ndiaye (both Senegal).
Fulham: Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey & Samuel Chukwueze (all Nigeria).
Leeds United: None.
Liverpool: Mohamed Salah (Egypt).
Manchester City: Omar Marmoush (Egypt).
Manchester United: Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon) & Nouassir Mazraoui (Morocco).
Newcastle United: None.
Nottingham Forest: Ibrahim Sangaré, Willy Boly (both Ivory Coast), Ola Aina & Taiwo Awoniyi (both Nigeria).
Sunderland: Arthur Masuaku, Noah Sadiki (both DR Congo), Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Reinildo (Mozambique) & Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast).
Tottenham Hotspur: Pape Matar Sarr & Yves Bissouma (both Senegal).
West Ham United: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo) & El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal).
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Marshall Munetsi, Tawanda Chirewa (both Zimbabwe) & Tolu Arokadare (Nigeria).
Which teams are the worst affected by AFCON?
Sunderland are likely to lose the most players to the Africa Cup of Nations, with seven potential departures over December and January – all of them players signed by the club this summer, the downside of what has otherwise proved to be a highly impressive transfer window.
Crystal Palace, Everton, Nottingham Forest and Wolves, meanwhile, could all lose as many as four players, although a combination of injuries and the fact that some of the players who could be called up are not guaranteed a place – Everton full-back Aznou, for instance – means that the damage may not be as severe for some of them as others.
Manchester United may have a case to suggest that they have it worse than any team other bar Sunderland, as not only are they set to lose a key forward in Mbeumo and one of the players who could have taken his place in Diallo, but they have one match less than other teams in which to make use of their African players.
Meanwhile, Liverpool may not feel the loss of Salah quite as keenly as many expected they would after his poor start to the season – the winger has even been benched for two of Liverpool’s most recent matches. Still, Arne Slot will hardly be happy to see Salah leave for a lengthy period, especially with Egypt among the pre-tournament favourites and one of the teams who may prove to be well-positioned to make a deep run.
Only four teams – Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds – are unaffected by AFCON call-ups, which could help them to press their cases for the title, the top four and their survival in the top flight respectively.
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