The Football Reporters: AFCON preview & Premier League impact

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0:35Welcome to the Football Reporters. The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations kicks off this weekend. Mark Ogden and Rob Dawson take a look at how the Premier League clubs will cope without the African stars. Then it's over to Ed Dove, Colin Udo and Leonard Solmes for everything you need to know about the tournament itself. Welcome to the Football Reporters. Well, this week we've got an Africa Cup of Nations special. the tournament starts in Morocco later this week and it's going to have a pretty big impact on the Premier League. Certain teams have got several players that are going to be going to the tournament.

1:04Some have got a few, others have got none. We'll discuss that in the next few minutes. But we're going to start off with Man United, Rob Dawson, our Manchester correspondent. Rob, United have got three players that are going to the FA Cup of Nations. Two very big players in Brian Abumo and Ahmad Dialla, but also Nassim Azraoui with Morocco, who is certainly a good utility player for Ruben Al-Ringham's team. So how are Man Utd going to cope without certainly two, three of their most important players? Well, I mean, that's the golden question that Ruben Amarim is going to have to answer. I mean, how do you cope with losing two of your best players in Ahmad Diallo and Brian Mbwemo?

1:40Also, you mentioned there Masraoui, who Amarim likes quite a lot. I mean, not only are Ahmad and Mbwemo two of Amarim's best players, it's also essentially the entire right side of his team. the best combinations that United have been able to put together this season have been down that right-hand side with Ahmad and Buemo kind of linking up, creating chances and scoring goals themselves. I mean, Buemo has got seven in 16 games for Man United this season since joining from Brentford. So he's one of United's main goal threats, if not their main goal threat. So it's going to be really, really tough for Amorim to cope.

2:15I mean, the squad is not particularly deep anyway. He hasn't got an awful lot of options. They've made the decision to strip the squad back in the summer because they weren't playing European football. He has got players who can play in those positions, presumed that it's going to be Dallot at right wing-back instead of Ahmad. The front three would probably be a variation of Sesko, Mount and Mateus Cunha. Possibly you could have Bruno Fernandes moving into one of those 10 roles if Kaby Maynou plays deeper, but there's no guarantee there. So it is going to be really, really tough for Amrim. I mean, the one thing I was going to ask you, Mark, is obviously United will have known all about this when they signed on Wemo.

2:53You know, it's no surprise that he's going to go off to AFCON. Do you think that Amrim, if results do tail off a little bit, deserves a little bit of leeway when those players leave? Or will they just have to find a solution? I mean, both really. He should be given some leeway because you're right, he's been left with a squad that is pretty thin. You know, that is a decision by the recruitment team. I'm not sure Amrim would have preferred a couple more players or certainly players of more quality because we know that the lack of game time he gave to Joshua Zerksy prior to Benjamin Shesko's injury tells you how much he rates Joshua Zerksy.

3:24So I don't think he's going to be ultimately Amarim's favourite pick, but he's going to have to play him because he doesn't have the options. I think, you know, I remember when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge, obviously going back, you know, 10, 15, 20 years now, and there was a club policy at the time not to sign African players because, you know, they felt that it was too big a risk losing players who were key players for four to six weeks of the season. Now, they did have Quinton Forch Jr. played for South Africa, but Quinton Forch was at best a squad player. But you're talking now, you know, Mbumo is not a squad player.

3:52He's one of United's most important players, so they're clearly going to miss him. But you would rather have Brian Mbumo in your squad for all but six weeks of the season than not sign him at all. I don't think United could have looked at him and said, well, let's not sign Mbumo because he'll be going away in January. I think you had to sign him because he's such a good player. He's proven to be that. But they have left themselves very short in a key area. So you take it, I'm ready to take it, Mbumo. and I've been wondering who they're going to play up front. You've mentioned the names, but it leaves United way for thin in terms of injuries.

4:20The squad is weak enough as it is. You're asking the club to go through a month without their big players being injured. But obviously, Kuhn has had a recent injury situation. Sesco is still not back into the team, or maybe back into the team for the Christmas period, but he's missed over a month. So can you rely on Mason Mount to stay fit during that period of time? It's a big gamble in United's part to go into this period with so many key players, you know, vital to the team and, you know, one injury away from a crisis, really. But, you know, that's United's decision. They made that decision in the summer.

4:52And I guess, you know, I mean, Rob, do you think there's, I mean, I don't think there are, but, you know, from your perspective, do you think there's anyone in the youth team that could come through? We haven't seen any kind of promotion yet of younger players. We keep talking about JJ Gabriel, but he's only 15. I don't think he's going to come into the team. But, you know, are there any kids that he can promote? I know he's been reluctant to do with Kobe Mania. So what is the situation beneath the first team? Yeah, I don't think that Amrim has been particularly impressed with the academy, to be honest.

5:17I mean, he's had Shea Lacey on the bench for the last couple of weeks because of a lack of options just to kind of make up the numbers, essentially. I mean, Shea Lacey is probably the best prospect in the academy at the moment. He deserves his chance to be in the squad, but Amrim has shown a reluctance to actually chuck him on, even in games where United have been chasing a goal, like Everton at Old Trafford and West Ham as well. So it kind of shows you where Shea Lacey is in the pecking order. I think it would be, I would be very, very surprised if Mwemo and Amar Diallo go off to AFCON and suddenly Shea Lacey's sort of playing regularly or getting regular minutes off the bench because Amarim just hasn't shown any kind of enthusiasm for that.

5:57And I wouldn't expect that to change. And there is a problem there with the depth of the squad. If you haven't got those players coming through who you're willing to give minutes to. There was criticism of Amrim during the Everton game that he didn't make enough changes to try and chase the game and score a goal. But Amrim's defence after that game was, well, who do you want me to put on? In the Everton game, the only attacking change really he had to make was Mason Mount off the bench. Same against West Ham. There just wasn't the options there to chuck on a load of attackers to try and get you a goal because the minute you got injuries to two of your main forwards in Cesco and Cunha, the options just look really, really thin.

6:36And it's a massive worry, particularly because United have got tricky games over Christmas. They've got Villa at Villa Park on December the 21st. They've got Newcastle at home on Boxing Day. If Brian Buemo, if he gets to the final of AFCON, the final, I think, is on January the 18th. United are due to play City, I think, on January the 17th. That just tells you how tricky their fixture list is. and it will be interesting to see what Amrim does because he hasn't got the luxury of not throwing away games, but going through a really bad patch of form again because things have picked up a little bit over the last couple of weeks.

7:17He had a decent win against Wolves, but it does all feel very much on a knife edge and if you do lose a couple of plays, it could all go back the other way and Amrim has said that for the last couple of weeks. Even when things have been all right, he said, well, things can change very, very quickly and the one thing that's going to change for Man United in the next week or so is losing Ahmad and Wemo, who are essentially his two best players. Yes, so there's obviously this big question marks up United, how they can cope. But let's just throw it forward to the title race now because I guess obviously Arsenal and Chelsea are the two frontrunners.

7:50They have been in recent weeks. They have no players in the African Nations. You've got Liverpool. They've got the situation with Mo Salah. I'm lumping Liverpool in the title race because they are the champions and they have got a squad capable of getting back into it. You know, you'd think that looking at the teams that are up and around that title race, that none of them seem to be too badly affected. I don't think City are really going to be over-affected by losing on Marmouche and Ryan Aitnourie. But I guess if Erling Haaland gets injured, then no Marmouche for four to six weeks, Egypt will be expected to go quite a long way.

8:19Do you think City might pay a price there if Haaland gets injured? And that's the thing is if Haaland gets injured, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, and that's the one for, I mean, looking at City's squad losing Marmouche and Aitnourie, I mean, they aren't two players who are playing regularly at the moment, but Marmouche is essentially Erling Haaland's understudy. And we saw against Real Madrid in the Bernabeu that when Pep Guardiola wants to make a change with 20 minutes to go, he takes Erling Haaland off and puts Marmouche on. There isn't anyone else really who can not do what Haaland does because no one can really do what he does, but can kind of sub in for him and just be a body to play at centre-forward.

8:53So what it means is that if Haaland does get injured, there isn't really anyone there to replace him, which is obviously worst case scenario for Pep Guardiola, but also means that perhaps in games that are quite tight, like we saw against Real Madrid, that the option there to bring on Marmouche for Haaland is removed as well. So maybe it means that Haaland will have to play more minutes, which isn't great for him because they want to kind of wrap him in cotton wool a little bit, really. They want to manage his minutes as much as possible because they know they just can't do without him. So it may not feel like a massive deal to lose Marmouche because he's just not playing particularly regularly.

9:30But it is a big deal to Pep because it just means it's one less option. And maybe Erling Haaland is going to have to play more than they want him to. There's a game against Brentford in the Carabao Cup, a quarterfinal. Really, that would be a game that Marmouche would start. But maybe Erling Haaland is going to have to play a part in that game. And really, if everyone was fit and available, Erling Haaland would probably be given the day off and told to go and have a sauna and relax for the Premier League game at the weekend. So it is going to be tough. and it's going to be tough for a load of different clubs.

10:01I mean, you're just looking down the list of teams who are losing players. Sunderland are obviously flying at the moment. They're in ninth, but they're going to lose six players. You would assume that that's going to be a massive thing for Sunderland and you wouldn't be surprised if they have quite a significant drop-off if they're losing essentially what is a third of their squad almost. Yeah, it's a huge blow for Sunderland because they've been such a tight-knit squad as well. I mean, LaBrice has done an amazing job up there. that they are kind of in contention for European football now. I guess that if they started the season and said, you're going to miss out on European football because of the African nations, they'd gladly take that because I think their priorities would stay up.

10:36But clearly, they are going to suffer for having so many players. I think Wolves as well. Wolves look doomed, but they're going to lose three. So their weaknesses are going to be even more exacerbated by the loss of players to the African nations. But I just want to go back to Liverpool because we've spoken about how United are going to be hit hard by their absences and potentially City might be hit hard by the loss of Mahmoud if Harlan gets injured. With Liverpool and Salah, do you not think that in many ways that actually might help both parties that he goes away for three or four weeks because he's out of the scene.

11:05He's obviously not happy at Liverpool, but him not being there, does that allow the situation to calm down? Or does he just kind of knock it down the road until we come back in the middle of January? No, I think it probably does help. I think maybe it's ironic, really. I imagine in the summer that Liverpool execs and Arnasla were looking at that and thinking, oh, we can't do without Mo Salah for six weeks in December and January. And now he's probably thinking it's an absolute blessing because you get to kick the can down the road for a little bit. You know, the situation will cool off because he's away from Liverpool.

11:38There won't be questions aimed at slot every single Friday at his news conferences, just asking, is he going to play? Is he going to play? Is he going to play? Because he'll be away with Egypt. I think it just gives everyone a chance to kind of calm down a little bit. The issue is then going to be what happens in January. It doesn't seem clear yet whether he's actually going to come back and play for Liverpool again. Is there going to be a bid from Saudi Arabia? I mean, I think we both know that there's been interest from Saudi in Mo Salah in the past, so it would seem like the ideal opportunity for a club with deep pockets like Al-Hal to go back in and try and sign him because it would appear that that relationship is almost irretrievable now between Salah and Slott and the club.

12:25So there are a lot of unknowns, but I think from Liverpool's point of view right now, I think it does solve a little bit of a problem that it gets him out of Liverpool, it gets him away playing football, it removes the situation or kicks it down the road for a few months and then they'll address it when he comes back. I mean, just looking at it now, I know you did a load of stuff after those comments that he made at Leeds. Where is your money? Do you think that he plays at Liverpool again? Do you think that he goes in January? Do you think we'll ever see him in a Liverpool shirt again? It's a really tough one because we've both worked through situations where you'd think players are never going back.

13:01I mean, Wayne Rooney in 2010 at Man United, I thought that was it. He issued a statement, how it was before kickoff in a Champions League game, and that really upset a lot of people at the club, but he ended up signing a new contract. Carlos Tevez at Man City, we're never going to play for him again, but he came back after seven or eight months. You know, we've seen, I think, Louis Suarez at Liverpool back in the day. That was a big one as well. You know, so there are plenty of recent examples of players that you'd think have taken it to the limit, but they end up staying. So I think with Salah, it's slightly different in the sense that he's not playing his peak anymore.

13:31So he's a player that Liverpool financially could lose. They've obviously brought his replacements in, his long-term replacements by Salah, signing Eastside, Eketike and Florian Verde in the summer. So I don't think anyone at Liverpool would say, let's get this deal done there but I think I think it would suit Liverpool in many ways to let him go he's not been the player listen he's not been great this season but equally if you look back for the last six months you look back the last three of months of last season his form has dipped I think he's nine goals in his last three appearances so who knows maybe Mo Salah has started the decline and if Liverpool get an offer in Django that takes off the wage bill and gives him some money as well then I think he could leave and I think Salah it sounds like he wants to go I don't think this is a kind of a plea for great support or you know some people have interpreted it as me or him in terms of I go out on his slot with goals I don't think it's that so I think Salah is probably looking at it and thinking I'm no longer the future I'm a great player of Liverpool's past but it's not what it was so I think the odds favour him going in January and I think if that happens I think that puts Liverpool in the box seat for someone like Antoine Semenya who is the player they like I think City like him as well but key point in this is that Antoine Semenyo is a Ghana international, but Ghana haven't qualified for the African nation.

14:44So another big thing for England, England play Ghana in the World Cup next summer, but Ghana won't be at the African nation. So what does that say about Ghana? But ultimately, from Semenyo's point of view, it means that for the whole of January, he's around and able to be transferred at Bournemouth. So Liverpool might think, let's cash in on Salah, let's make a move for Semenyo. And that would make a lot of sense. But also in terms of the transfer window, like you said before, Rob, the final's in January the 18th. So that means that a lot of clubs are going to wait. I think they're going to wait until then the African nations for the last two weeks of January then do their business.

15:15So Man United, for instance, we know that they definitely need players in, but they need to get players out. So I can't see Kobe Mayne, Joshua Zerkesi, even Terrell Molassi are going anywhere in the first two weeks of January. But once the African nations finishes and they get their players back, then United could look to move players on because that's when they won't be kind of exposed to having a really thin squad. So I think it will have an impact on the transfer window initially, but I think by mid-January, I think a lot of the teams will be back anyway, all the players will be back anyway, and they'll all be back by mid-January, January 19.

15:47So I think that's when the transfer window will really kick into gear. And clubs like United, who haven't got a lot of money to spend, as we know, that's when they could do business by getting players out in order to get players in. Yeah, and I mean, United is one of the key ones, particularly with Maino and Xerxi, because there's been a lot of speculation about both of them that they want to go and want to play more regularly to force their way into squads before the World Cup. I mean, the message from United has been that those two players, while they appreciate that they're not playing as often as they would like, they've not been frozen out.

16:19You know, they're always in the matchday squads if they're available. And that is a big distinction to make. They aren't surplus to requirements, essentially, by Ruben Amri. They're just not playing in the first team every single week. So someone like Maynou, I think he is going to have to wait until after the Africa Cup of Nations when, you know, Ahmad and Mwemo come back because United will want to make sure, A, that they come back fit and available and also that they have enough players to cover those two while they're away. I mentioned at the start of the conversation that one of the possibilities that Amrim may look into is to pick Maynou in central midfield next to Casemiro.

16:56You move Fernandes into that number 10 position, which is probably better suited to anyway, next to Cunha with Cesc go up front. And it gives you a little bit, you know, a couple more options. Now, obviously, that would depend on Ruben Amrim actually picking Maynou, which so far he just hasn't seemed to want to do. But in regards to his future, I just don't see that United are going to be in a position to do anything with Manu until after the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, because they're just not going to know. And then it doesn't leave an awful lot of time then. I mean, the final is what, January the 18th?

17:28The window is going to close at the end of January. It doesn't leave you an awful lot of time then to sort moves out. And United, one thing that Ruben Amrim and United have both said is that they're not in the business of just helping players reach a World Cup. They're not going to go out of their way to help Mainou find more games to get himself in the England squad. Ultimately, their duty is to look after Man United. And if they see him as a viable option for United, they're just not going to let him go. So I don't think it's completely cut and dried that Mainou will get to go at all. And if he does get to go, as you just said there, it will be later in the window.

17:58Do you see a scenario whereby Kobe Mainou goes mid to late January in a deal that facilitates him for Carlsper Labour? At Brighton, obviously, Carlsper Labour could be a wait for the whole duration of the African Nations with Cameroon. Could Kobe Manu end up at Brighton as part of a deal? You know, there's obviously possibilities there for Kobe Manu. I mean, I don't see it myself, but I mean, it's one possibility that could arise if United are creative in the final week to the window. Yeah, I mean, obviously it's someone that United looked at in the summer. I don't see United making a massive major addition in January just because, again, their message has been that they've got a long-term plan and they want to stick to it and they're aiming for the summer.

18:40Now, that doesn't mean that an opportunity may not arise in January that they think, well, we have to react to this and make the most of it and try and do something in the way that they did with Bruno Fernandes when he came in from sporting, a deal that was done in January. So United are leaving themselves open to that possibility. I don't think that they're particularly planning on spending big money in January. there's also a possibility that something relatively short term might come up. I mean, there's been talk of Conor Gallagher at Atletico Madrid, possibly on loan. I mean, United haven't really said an awful lot about that.

19:15They've been quite cool on those links in the past. So again, I would be surprised. But there is still a few weeks before the January transfer window. You and I both know that anything can happen and clubs tend to react sometimes to different situations, whether it's injuries or players dropping out of form or opportunities arising in the window that perhaps they weren't expecting. So as of right now, I think that United maybe are looking at possibly a couple of departures, but nothing major incoming and are focusing on the summer. But as I say, with any of these clubs, never say never. I think the bad news for United is that Morocco as a host will probably go a long way if not go all the way to the final.

19:53So that means Miss Raoui's likely to be away for the whole duration of the tournament. And Cameron and Ivory Coles are in the same group. they're in with Gabon and Mozambique so I think they're both fancied to get out of that group so from United's perspective I don't think they're going to get in their plays back early in the tournament so they're going to have to find a way to get through but yeah African nations every time it comes around every couple of years it always has a disruptive effect on the Premier League but you know they have some great players from Africa as well the Sadio Mane's the Mo Salah's the Didier Drogba's so I think the Premier League benefits from their presence as a whole but it does leave a hole in the middle of the season fairly regularly so we'll see how it pans out When you're at work, you never know when you're going to get interrupted, like when an office fire drill happens right in the middle of your presentation or constructions going on just outside your window.

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21:16And now it's time to look forward to the tournament itself. I'm Ed Dove. I'm joined here by Colin Udo and Leonard Soames. and guys there's only one place to start when it comes to previewing the Nations Cup and that is the hosts Morocco they're the hosts are they also the favorites Colin let's let's start with you can you give us your your feelings your debrief on the the Atlas line yeah I should think so I mean it I mean it's hard to rule them out one they're the hosts and if there's one thing we know about AFCON, it is that the hosts always tend to do well. They might not always win it, but they always tend to be there or thereabouts.

21:55And of course, we know the progress Morocco has made over the last few years. So you can definitely see them going really far. Not to mention, I think they still hold the record for the longest unbeaten streak in the world after they overtook Spain. and when you put all that together and also they've got the top scorer by Emma Diaz from qualifying so you've got to believe that it is hard to rule them out again like I said, maybe they'll have a different idea I was going to ask what do you think can stop Morocco from being considered favourites or champions elect for this tournament I think that probably the biggest challenge that they're going to have to overcome is one of their best players, Ashraf Hakimi, not being at quite a peak fitness heading into this tournament.

22:52It looks like he's about for their opening few games. Time can only tell if he will be at his best as the tournament progresses. But that's something that could certainly be a challenge. But I certainly agree with Colin. I would have Morocco as favourites for this tournament. I think the way they handled the World Cup qualification for me was seriously impressive the first time ever that an African team has enjoyed a 100 % record during World Cup qualification I think that can't be ignored obviously they've got the experience of going deep in tournaments after the run to the semi-finals in the World Cup where a lot of these guys were still present I think the group is decent I think they shouldn't have too much trouble with Zambia, Comoros and Mali the only thing for me is that I've predicted Morocco will get to the final at least in the last two Nations Cups and they've ended up letting me down and we've got to forget, we can't forget this is a team that haven't won the tournament since the late 70s so there is a bit of a weight of history there and I think it remains to be seen whether perhaps the pressure and the expectation back at home will get to them, we saw a little bit with the women's team perhaps in the final of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in the summer and it'll be interesting where the Atlas Lions, where the Walej Raguigui's team fall into a similar trap.

24:18When we look at the other potential favourites, we've got Senegal, we've got Algeria, who have been mentioned strongly. Leonard, for you, which of these two is perhaps the most likely contender to Monaco? I would say Senegal. I think that they're at a little bit of an inflection point. I think that it's the generation that led them to the 2021 AFCON title. Obviously, the tournament held belatedly in 2022. That generation is on its way out. A new generation is on its way in, but still an unbelievably balanced side. and I think that they certainly will be one of the, if not the toughest, challenges to Morocco.