However, Manchester United’s trio of Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui will join Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Morocco, respectively.
Carlos Baleba, the only Brighton player to have appeared in every game across all competitions this season, will join Mbeumo with Cameroon. They will arrive in extraordinary circumstances after Samuel Eto’o, president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, sacked manager Marc Brys over alleged “subterfuge”.
Sunderland will lose six of their African players to Afcon. Ex-Atletico Madrid full-back, Reinildo Mandava will play in Mozambique’s opening game against an Ivory Coast side without Sunderland team-mate, Simon Adingra, after the winger was surprisingly left out.
Lyle Foster will travel with South Africa, leaving relegation-threatened Burnley, as will Tunisia’s Hannibal Mejbri.
Fulham will lose three players to the Nigeria squad: Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze. The latter scored two goals in Fulham’s sensational nine-goal game against Manchester City earlier this month.
