European clubs set for tough January as stars head out for AFCON and Asian Cup
Premier League (England)
A total of 39 players are set to put duties for their Premier League clients on the back burner. The list includes top names like Mohammed Salah and Son Heung-min. The absences of the two superstars will be felt by Liverpool and Spurs, with Salah and Son contributing 14 and 12 league strikes to their respective clubs' causes.
Salah's absence in particular could hurt Liverpool in their fight for the Premier League title, although Jürgen Klopp's men didn't find that as a problem in their 2-0 win against title rivals Arsenal in the FA Cup 3rd round.
Manchester City, Newcastle United and Burnley would be the only three clubs who have no absences to deal with, while Nottingham Forest will lose the most players among all European clubs with six of their stars off to the AFCON.
Here's a look at some of the clubs who will be losing players in January:
Club | Players Missing |
|---|---|
Arsenal | Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) |
Brighton | Kaoru Mitoma (Japan), Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast) |
Chelsea | Nicolas Jackson (Senegal) |
Fulham | Fode Ballo-Toure (Senegal), Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria) |
Liverpool | Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Wataru Endo (Japan) |
Manchester United | Andre Onana (Cameroon), Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco) |
Nottingham Forest | Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast), Wily Boly (Ivory Coast), Ibrahim Sangare (Ivory Coast), Chiekhou Kouyate (Senegal), Ola Aina (Nigeria), Moussa Niakhate (Senegal) |
Tottenham Hotspur | Son Heung-Min (South Korea), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), Yves Bissouma (Mali) |
West Ham United | Mohammad Kudus (Ghana), Nayef Aguerd (Morocco) |
Wolverhampton Wanderers | Hwang Hee-Chan (South Korea), Rayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria), Boubacar Traore (Mali), Justin Hubner (Indonesia) |