Manchester United were able to reach an eleventh-hour agreement to have Africa Cup of Nations pair Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo involved against Bournemouth tonight.
The status of Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui is unknown but it is thought he will not be permitted by his national federation to feature for the Red Devils. United, however, were successful in reaching an agreement to keep Amad and Mbeumo.
United had been involved in lengthy dialogue with the respective national federations of Ivory Coast, Morocco and Cameroon and those discussions were still ongoing as of Friday afternoon when head coach Ruben Amorim was quizzed by reporters about the trio’s availability for Monday.
Amad, Mazraoui and Mbeumo all trained with the rest of the group on Saturday morning, completing an indoor session on set pieces as well as a full-scale training session preparing to face Andoni Iraola’s side.
United sources elected not to officially clarify their status for Monday’s game and instead opted to keep availability secret until players arrived at Old Trafford on the night of the match.
But word around the first team group four hours before kick-off detailed that despite concerns late last week, both Amad and Mbeumo would be involved.
Ruben Amorim has received a major boost going into tonight’s game against Bournemouth
Star men Bryan Mbeumo and Amad have been given the green light by their nations to play
AFCON starts on December 21 – Mazraoui’s Morocco open the tournament – and FIFA dictated a mandatory release date for clubs to release their African stars by December 15.
Two years ago, United negotiated with Cameroon to delay goalkeeper Andre Onana’s departure so that he only missed one game for the club.
‘Every national team has their ideas about when they want the players,’ Amorim said on Friday.
‘I don’t know if it’s going to be the same situation (with each player). It depends on the games. It’s frustrating but at the same time nobody knows who is going to play. So it’s a good thing, I think.
‘We have players to cope with everything, and with a long week you can see a lot of things to prepare the game and any situation.’
The trio will definitely play no part for United against Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Wolves and could even miss further fixtures.
Should any of the trio progress deep in the tournament there is the possibility that they will not be eligible for Amorim in games against Leeds United and Burnley in the Premier League, as well as Brighton in the FA Cup.
If any of the players go all the way to the final they will also likely miss the league match with Manchester City at Old Trafford.
