Manchester United's Monday night clash with Bournemouth could see a staggering 10 players absent due to injury, suspension or commitments to the Africa Cup of Nations. The Red Devils are keeping their cards close to their chest regarding the availability of Noussair Mazraoui, Amad and Bryan Mbeumo for Monday's match at Old Trafford.
All three are due to leave for AFCON early next week. FIFA has mandated a release date of Monday, December 15, for clubs to free up players for the tournament, which commences on Saturday, December 21.
This has thrown a spanner in the works for United, as their fixture against the Cherries is slated for Monday evening. Club officials have been negotiating with the football federations of Morocco, the Ivory Coast and Cameroon about all three players, hoping to secure an extension. This would enable them to feature in the Bournemouth clash before flying out to the tournament in Morocco.
United's head coach, Ruben Amorim, voiced his uncertainty during Friday's pre-match press conference about whether the trio would be available for the game when asked for an update. The ex-Sporting boss expressed his frustration with the predicament, just three days ahead of the match.
In other news, defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire are sidelined through injury, while striker Benjamin Sesko's participation remains uncertain due to food poisoning, despite having returned to first-team training following a knee injury. Bournemouth, meanwhile, will be missing four key players. Lewis Cook faces suspension, whilst Ryan Christie, Matai Akinmboni and Ben Doak remain sidelined through injury.
When quizzed about United's unavailable squad members on Friday, Amorim acknowledged that some decisions might go down to the wire. He said: "Maguire is out, De Ligt is out. Ben [Sesko], we have to see.
"We have to see if he's available. He had some [food] poisoning, but we'll see. Let's wait. We have two trainings still. The other two are out, Benjamin, we will assess." Amorim subsequently provided further details regarding De Ligt's fitness concerns, following his absence from the stalemate against West Ham and last Monday evening's win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"I think he has something in his back, I don't know for sure," he said. "Sometimes you see it's not a big injury because he finished the game quite well against Crystal Palace, but he has some pain.
"You sometimes think it will be solved during this week, but sometimes he feels a little bit of pain, and we have to be a little careful with that."
Regarding those departing for AFCON, he added: "I expect today to have a decision or maybe tomorrow, but we are waiting until the last moment to have all the players available, to choose the best team to start the game."