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European clubs set for tough January as stars head out for AFCON and Asian Cup

Teams across Europe will have to contend with the loss of key players including Mo Salah, Son Heung-min and Victor Osimhen

By Kaushik G Viswanath

Tottenham's Son Heung-min (left) and Liverpool's Mo Salah (right) will be absent from Premier League for the next several weeks while on national team duty.
Tottenham's Son Heung-min (left) and Liverpool's Mo Salah (right) will be absent from Premier League for the next several weeks while on national team duty. / Clive Brunskill/GettyImages
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Ligue 1 (France)

Ligue 1 will miss the most number of players among any top-flight league in Europe with more than 60 players leaving for the AFCON and AFC Asian Cup. The high turnover could hurt the fortunes of certain clubs in their perennial title slugfest against Paris Saint-Germain.

The defending champs will be without influential right-back Achraf Hakimi who has contributed 8 goals and assists in 20 games across the league and UEFA Champions League.

Achraf Hakimi
Achraf Hakimi / Jean Catuffe/GettyImages

Defending champions Senegal will be the biggest benefactors with as many as eight players joining Sadio Mane to defend their title in Ivory Coast.

Nice, who are currently 5 points behind PSG in second will bid adieu to club top scorer Terem Moffi (6 goals) who received a late call-up to the Nigerian camp to replace the injured Victor Boniface.

Monaco who are 2 points behind Nice will also miss key players like Takumi Minamino, who with 9 goal contributions (5 goals+4 assists) in 14 games is on course to have his most prolific season in his professional career. Marseille, meanwhile, might lose six players to international commitments.

Here are some of the key players who will be missing in action for their clubs in January:

Club

Players Missing

AS Monaco

Takumi Minamino (Japan), Mohamed Salisu (Ghana), Mohamed Camara (Mali)

Olympique Marseille

Amine Harit and Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco), Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo), Ismaila Sarr, Iliman Ndiaye and Pape Gueye (Senegal)

OGC Nice

Jeremie Boga (Ivory Coast), Youcef Atal and Hicham Boudaoui (Algeria)

Paris Saint-Germain

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco), Kang-in Lee (South Korea)

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