Manchester United Seeks to Retain Its Stars for the Africa Cup of Nations
Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim has revealed that the club is in talks with the federations of Cameroon, Morocco, and Ivory Coast. The goal is to try to delay the departure of Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui, and Amad Diallo for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament, which will be held in Morocco from December 21st to January 18th, will leave United without these three key players for its duration.
Amorim anticipates that Mbeumo, Mazraoui, and Amad will be called up two weeks before the start of the competition. However, the coach hopes to reach agreements with the respective associations to have them for as long as possible.
Manchester United would like to have their full squad available for the matches against Wolves on December 8th and Bournemouth’s visit to Old Trafford on December 15th.Man United will be without the three key players during AFCON.Amorim commented: “We have the rules about when we have to release the players. We are trying to get the players to stay a little longer, but we’ll see. I think it’s two weeks before the start. We will try to reach an agreement with the federations. We already knew [about the African Cup of Nations], so it’s an opportunity for other players. It’s not ideal, they are very important in our team.”
The situation is further complicated by Benjamin Sesko’s injury, which will keep him out of the match against Everton at Old Trafford on Monday.
Amorim informed at a press conference on Friday that the knee problem “is not serious”, but the Slovenian international is expected to be out for several weeks.
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Harry Maguire will also miss the match against Everton.
Kobbie Mainoo did not train with the team on Friday, but the midfielder is expected to participate on Saturday.
“[Sesko] will be out for a few weeks,” said Amorim. “I don’t know how long, but it’s not that serious. We need to be careful with him.”
