With a just a day to the Africa Cup of Nations, the English Premier League is set to lose some of the finest football players in Africa.
A massive 22 first-team players head to Gabon from England for a potential three weeks lead by Liverpool top scorer Sadio Mane of Senegal and EPL Player of the Season Riyad Mahrez.
Some clubs are not as lucky as Arsenal & Manchester United who’ll lose a single player each for the AFCON such as Leicester City & Stoke City who’ll have to do without three integral players each.
It is of no surprise that Ivory Coast are the side with most players playing in the English Premier League as they boast five athletes amongst their ranks
Below, we preview the players who are set to star for their nations in Gabon.
Arsenal:
Mohamed Elneny – Egypt
Position: Midfield
Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
Bournemouth:
Max Gradel – Ivory Coast
Position: Winger
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Crystal Palace:
Bakary Sako – Mali
Position: Midfield
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
Wilfried Zaha – Ivory Coast
Position: Winger
Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Everton
Idrissa Gana Gueye – Senegal
Position: Midfield
Photo by Lynne Cameron/Getty Images
Hull City:
Ahmed Elmohamady– Egypt
Position: Fullback
Dieumerci Mbokani – DR Congo
Position: Forward
Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images
Leicester City:
Daniel Amartey – Ghana
Position: Midfield
Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Islam Slimani – Algeria
Position: Forward
Photo by Michael Reagan/Getty Images
Riyad Mahrez – Algeria
Position: Winger
Photo by Matthew Lewis/Getty Images
Liverpool:
Sadio Mané – Senegal
Position: Winger
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Manchester United:
Eric Bailly – Ivory Coast
Position: Defender
Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images
Southampton:
Sofiane Boufal – Morocco
Position: Winger
Photo by Michael Reagan/Getty Images
Stoke City:
Mame Biram Diouf – Senegal
Position: Forward
Ramadan Sobhi – Egypt
Position: Winger
Wilfried Bony – Ivory Coast
Position: Forward
Sunderland:
Didier Ndong – Gabon
Position: Midfield
Lamine Koné – Ivory Coast
Position: Midfield
Wahbi Khazri – Tunisia
Position: Winger
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Watford:
Adlène Guedioura – Algeria
Position: Midfield
West Ham United:
André Ayew – Ghana
Position: Forward
Cheikhou Kouyaté – Senegal
Position: Midfield
