Premier League players going to AFCON 2022 – List of PL Stars leaving for Africa
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off in Cameroon from Sunday, 9th of January 2022 and a number of Premier League stars will be flying out to represent their national teams in the coming days. We at Alley Sport bring you the entire list of Premier League players going to AFCON 2022 so as to analyse which teams will experience temporary displeasure and which ones will be hit hard due to the continental tournament.
AFCON 2022 Schedule
The AFCON 2021(now 2022) will be the 33rd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennia international men’s football championship of Africa organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). With the virus first postponing it from January this year, and unfavourable climactic conditions preventing the continental tournament from going ahead with the new schedule in the summer months of June and July 2021 as well, the competition will now be held from the 9th of January to the 6th of February, 2022, with the final scheduled on February 9 at Olembe Stadium in the central African country of Cameroon.
Several Premier League stars have already been called up for international duty in Africa. However, the Premier League unanimously decided in December that all players called up to the national teams can be released as late as just one week before the tournament kicks off, which brings the date to about 3rd January 2022. As such, over 30 Premier League stars will depart for Cameroon in the coming weeks and will miss all action for up to 4 whole weeks.
Premier League players going to AFCON 2022
Here at Alley Sport, we take a look at the whole host of Premier League stars who will set sail for Cameroon in the coming days.
The full list of PL Stars called up to represent their national teams leaving for Africa in a few days from each club is as follows:
Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny (Egypt), Nicolas Pepe (Ivory Coast), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Thomas Partey (Ghana)
Aston Villa: Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Trezeguet (Egypt)
Brentford: Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)
Brighton: Yves Bissouma (Mali)
Burnley: Maxwel Cornet (Ivory Coast)
Chelsea: Edouard Mendy (Senegal)
Crystal Palace: Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), Jordan Ayew (Ghana), Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast)
Everton: Alex Iwobi (Nigeria)
Leicester City: Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria), Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria), Daniel Amartey (Ghana), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal)
Liverpool: Naby Keita (Guinea), Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Sadio Mane (Senegal)
Manchester City: Riyad Mahrez (Algeria)
Manchester United: Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast)
Southampton: Moussa Djenepo (Mali)
Watford: Ismaila Sarr (Senegal), William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria), Adam Masina (Morocco), Imran Louza (Morocco)
West Ham: Said Benrahma (Algeria)
Wolves: Romain Saiss (Morocco), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast)
The Impact of Premier League players going to AFCON 2022
Liverpool, who are currently placed third in the Premier League table with 41 points, will be impacted the most as two of their key stars, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, are headed for the tournament. Also, Arsenal are set to miss key players over the coming weeks even though they may not be first-team options any more.
Leicester City and Watford are the other two teams who will be affected the most by the departure of their African stars. It remains to be seen how and to what extent every club is affected by the loss of these superstars and how it affects their ambitions for the season.
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