- Mohamed Salah headlines the Premier League Stars expected to light up AFCON 2025.
- 16 Premier League clubs will be represented at the tournament with 32 players called up.
- AFCON 2025 is scheduled to run from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026.
The English Premier League is bracing for a significant player exodus as the festive fixture calendar clashes with the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), scheduled to run from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026.
A staggering 16 Premier League clubs will be represented at the tournament, with 32 players called up, forcing managers to reshuffle their squads during a crucial period of domestic action with injuries already piling up at this stage.
With the tournament running from December 21 until January 18, clubs could be missing their African stars for six league matches plus the FA Cup third round.
The mandatory release date for players, set by FIFA, was Monday, December 15 which led to last-minute negotiations by clubs for players to be involved in Monday night fixtures.
Manchester United trio of Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, and Noussair Mazraoui were expected to feature in the 4-4 draw against Bournemouth before immediately flying out to join their national team camps, but Mazraoiui departed earlier because Morocco refused to allow their player to extend his stay as they host the opening fixture of the tournament on December 21.
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Premier League Stars expected to light up AFCON 2025
No club will be more affected than high-flying Sunderland, who top the list by losing six players heading into the New Year.
Their absentees will be Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo}), Reinildo (Mozambique), Noah Sadiki (DRC), Habib Diarra (Senegal)and Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco).
Tied for the next highest number with three players lost each are Manchester United, Fulham and Burnley.
United will miss the services of Mbeumo (Cameroon), Diallo (Ivory Coast) and Mazraoui (Morocco).
Fulham’s contingent is an all-Nigerian cast consisting of Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze while Burnley’s list includes Lyle Foster (South Africa), Axel Tuanzebe (DRC) and Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia).
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A group of seven clubs will each lose two players: Nottingham Forest (Ibrahim Sangaré and Willy Boly from Ivory Coast), Everton (Iliman Ndiaye and Idrissa Gueye from Senegal), Tottenham Hotspur (Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), Yves Bissouma(Mali)), West Ham United (Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DRC), El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal)).
Wolves (Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast), Tawanda Chirewa (Zimababwe)), Brentford (Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)), and Manchester City (Omar Marmoush (Egypt), Rayan Aït-Nouri (Algeria)).
Finally, five clubs will lose a single, but highly influential player, including Liverpool (Mohamed Salah (Egypt)), Brighton & Hove Albion (Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)), Crystal Palace (Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal)), Aston Villa (Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast)), and Bournemouth (Amine Adli (Morocco)).
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Senegal boasts the highest contingent of Premier League talent, with six players called up.
They are closely followed by DR Congo, Nigeria and Ivory Coast, who each rely on four Premier League-based stars. The host nation, Morocco, will feature three Premier League players.
A select few Premier League teams will see their squads remain fully intact.
Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds, and Newcastle will not lose any first-team players for the regional tournament last won by Ivory Coast.
The biennial tournament kicks off on December 21 when hosts Morocco play against Comoros in a Group A fixture.
The match could potentially see Premier League stars Mazraoiui, Talbi and Adli feature as the month-long competition starts.
