The Africa Cup of Nations is back this December and January, with the continent's very best set to battle it out in Morocco as they aim to take Cote d'Ivoire's crown after their unlikely victory at the start of 2024. AFCON's prestige, drama and quality remains up there with the Euros and Copa America, but the downside for European clubs is it's another tournament which falls slap bang in the middle of their seasonal calendar, meaning most teams will be losing players for up to a month.
The Premier League's growth to become a truly global competition means all but three teams – Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United – will be affected, though some will feel the pinch a bit more than others.
We at GOAL have ranked the remaining 17 clubs based on whose prospects of a successful season will most be damaged by players leaving for AFCON. Let's dive in…
Getty Images Sport17Aston Villa
Number of absentees: 1 – Evann Guessand (Cote d'Ivoire)
Arriving from Nice as one of Ligue 1's most exciting forwards this summer, Evann Guessand hasn't quite hit the ground running at Aston Villa, scoring once in 15 games for his new club. Thus, his absence this winter shouldn't really be to the detriment of Unai Emery, who has plenty of other forwards capable of finding the net to rely upon.
AdvertisementGetty Images16Newcastle
Number of absentees: 1 – Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
As is the case with Guessand at Villa, Yoane Wissa hasn't impressed for his new club yet. In fact, he hasn't even played a single minute for them at the time of writing. After missing part of Brentford's pre-season campaign to force through a move to Newcastle, the striker picked up an injury on duty with DR Congo and hasn't been fit since. He's expected to recover in time for AFCON and make his long-awaited Magpies debut in the near future.
Why do Newcastle rank above Villa then? Because Eddie Howe could seriously do with another source of goals, and the availability of their £55 million ($72.5m) attacker would be nice.
Getty Images Sport15Bournemouth
Number of absentees: 1 – Amine Adli (Morocco)
Another team with only one player departing in December, Bournemouth's thin squad becomes tested at the first sign of absence. Amine Adli, a Bundesliga title winner with Bayer Leverkusen, is yet to win the full trust of Andoni Iraola, but the Cherries' high intensity means they need to count on every first-team player, and they will need to find someone to replace those minutes. In better news for Bournemouth, Antoine Semenyo won't be going anywhere as Ghana somehow failed to qualify for the finals.
Getty Images Sport14Manchester City
Number of absentees: 2 – Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria)
If this were a list ranking teams by how much individual quality each team will lose for AFCON, then clearly Manchester City would be towards the very top. Yet, such are the riches of depth in Pep Guardiola's squad, they will barely be troubled by Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri's exits, especially given the Catalan manager has openly reiterated his desire to trim down his roster.
Marmoush has missed much of this season with a knee injury, while Ait-Nouri has been sidelined with an ankle injury after joining from Wolves. City will probably be just fine.