This season has had a feeling of impending doom about it, with Manchester United set to lose key players due to AFCON.
The one problem with being over-reliant on players from Africa is the fact that AFCON is frustratingly positioned in the middle of the Premier League season.
Manchester United have rarely been affected, but this season it is going to prove very impactful for Ruben Amorim’s side, with Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui all set to depart.
Who will be Manchester United’s most important attacking player when Mbeumo and Amad depart for the AFCON?
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Bryan Mbeumo celebrates scoring for Manchester United vs Liverpool.
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United were handed a boost by FIFA last week, with the ruling that the players could remain with their clubs until later – otherwise they would have left already.
However, question marks remained around whether they would be in the squad to play against Bournemouth this coming Monday.
Amad and Bryan Mbeumo in Manchester United Training Session
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Bryan Mbeumo and Amad involved in Manchester United training
Speaking after the 4-1 win over Wolves, Amorim admitted he wasn’t completely sure whether he would be able to play his African players against Bournemouth.
So when there was live training on MUTV from Carrington on Thursday morning, eagle-eyed fans were looking out for these players in particular.
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During the broadcast, all three of Amad, Mbeumo and Mazraoui could be seen taking part in the rondo training session.
This might not mean a whole lot, but if they weren’t going to be in contention for Monday, surely United would have already released them to international duty.
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So this could be a massive boost for United, allowing the trio to start one final time and hopefully embark for AFCON on a win.
But it wasn’t all good news.
Who was missing from the training session?
While the three AFCON-bound players look likely to be eligible to play one final time before they head to the tournament, three others were not involved in the drills
There had been promising injury news around Benjamin Sesko; however, he was nowhere to be seen in Thursday’s session, and it could be Mbeumo’s presence, which means United aren’t rushing the Slovenian back to action.
Also absent was Matthijs de Ligt, with the centre-back missing the past two games through injury. Meanwhile, Harry Maguire remains out injured.
It is a strong team, though, and Amorim should have more than enough to beat Bournemouth, with Shea Lacey and Jack Fletcher the two academy players involved.
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