How AFCON 2023 will impact Europe's top 5 leagues

AFCON 2023 will begin on 13 January

Ivory Coast will host the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023, which will start on 13 January and continue until 11 February.

Most of these African players feature in the top five leagues in Europe and a lot of them will be representing their country in the final tournament.

The final squads for the upcoming tournament have been announced by most managers. Players are getting ready to pack their bags and will leave for Ivory Coast in the coming days. It will undoubtedly be a major setback for the clubs, who, to a greater or lesser extent, will lose important players for up to a month.

As reported by Relevo via EFE, the club that could lose the most players is Ligue 1 side Metz. The French club has up to 11 players who have been called up to their national teams at some point. They are Jallow, Traoré, Candé, Maïga, Camara, Tetteh, Mbaye, Dialló, Oukidja, Van den Kerkhof and Sabaly. Some of them are key players for Metz, who will not be able to count on the goalscoring contribution.

The second most affected team on the continent could be Nottingham Forest. Up to seven players (Aurier, Kouyaté, Sangaré, Aina, Boly, Awoniyi and Niakhaté) could miss a month of Premier League action. Some, like Aurier, are recovering from injury but could make it in time to be called up.

Xabi Alonso and Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen will be without five players. Tapsoba, Kossounou, Boniface, Adli and Tella could be out for up to a month. Victor Boniface has been a regular goal-scorer and will be a big miss for the Spanish coach.

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In LaLiga, Almeria, with four possible absentees, are the worst affected in a competition in which only Real Madrid, Barcelona, Getafe and Osasuna would not lose any of their players. 

Iñaki Williams (Athletic), Reinildo (Atlético), Bebé and Pathe Ciss (Rayo Vallecano), Sadiq and Traoré (Real Sociedad) and En-Nesyri (Sevilla) are some of the big names in La Liga who could be gone for a month.

In Italy, Udinese and Salernitana have five African players who may be involved in the competition. They are the most affected in Serie A, where bigger clubs such as Milan, Napoli and Roma would lose two of their players each (Bennacer, Samu Chukwueze, Anguissa, Victor Osimhen, Ndicka and Aouar).

Other star names including Salah (Liverpool), Boulaye Dia (Salernitana), Marmoush (Eintracht), Guirassy (Stuttgart), Guilavogui (Lens), Moffi (Nice), Nuamah (Lyon), Magri (Toulouse), Kudus (West Ham) and Haller (Dortmund) will be out of European action as they represent their respective countries.

Ligue 1 will be the most affected, with 88 possible departures. With 48, the Premier League is next. Serie A could be left without 37 players, LaLiga without 27 and the Bundesliga without 26.

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