West Ham have been seriously concerned about losing two of their best players to the African Nations in the midst of a relegation battle, but there’s some good news.
Just as the fixture list throws up some real promise for Nuno Espirito Santo heading into January, West Ham will lose two of their most important players to AFCON.
The Hammers board are concerned the team will be losing both their starting full-backs Aaron Wan-Bissaka and El Hadji Malick Diouf – potentially for as long as six weeks – when the African Nations takes place between December 21st and January 18th.
Crucially, clubs are required to release players at least a week before the tournament and, should their nations go deep in the tournament, it is standard practice for stars to be given at least a week of recovery after their participation ends.
West Ham dreading loss of key duo for up to six weeks
That means Wan-Bissaka and Diouf could well be at AFCON for up to six weeks with DR Congo and Senegal respectively, following this Sunday’s clash with Aston Villa at the London Stadium.
West Ham’s board admit they are hugely concerned about losing Wan-Bissaka and Diouf.
Wan-Bissaka and Malick Diouf could be gone for SIX WEEKS due to AFCON!
Who should replace them? And how would you set up to compensate for their absence?
That’s understandable given they are two of the only players in the team with any true pace.
Diouf has been brilliant for the Hammers since signing from Slavia Prague for £19m in the summer.
The same can be said for bargain £15m Hammer of the Year Wan-Bissaka, who has been back to his very best recently.
Both are key to the way West Ham play on the break under Nuno, looking to make the most of fast counter-attacks.
Hammers chiefs admit they are concerned about the impact losing the duo for a crucial run of fixtures will have on the team as they fight to stay in the Premier League.
Kyle Walker-Peters can ably fill in for one of them but the lack of depth in West Ham’s squad threatens to be brutally exposed by the African Nations.
Diouf and Wan-Bissaka will say their goodbyes after the Villa game and may not be back – in a worst case scenario for West Ham and best case for the players themselves – until after the Sunderland clash on January 24th.
Diouf and Wan-Bissaka could miss up to seven Premier League games
The group stage of AFCON lasts until December 31st which means the duo will miss West Ham’s games against Man City, Fulham and Brighton at the very least.
But should Senegal and/or Congo progress further – as they are expected to given both nations are among the favourites – then Diouf and Wan-Bissaka could also miss games against Wolves, Forest, Spurs and even Sunderland.
It’s not all bad news for Nuno Espirito Santo, though, as West Ham have got a major AFCON boost too.
The board reiterated their concerns about losing Wan-Bissaka and Diouf for an extended period when lifting the lid on West Ham’s January window plans.
The Hammers may look to sign a full-back in the January window.
Nuno even experimented by giving young Ezra Mayers his West Ham debut in the closing stages of the draw at Brighton.
There is no doubt the importance of Diouf and Wan-Bissaka to the team means West Ham are among the sides most impacted by AFCON.
In these situations it is easy to be myopic but the bigger picture means there’s some good news for the Hammers too.
After Christmas Day, West Ham face their most important run of games of the entire season.
At least six of the club’s eight Premier League matches from December 27th onwards are winnable, on paper at least.
And West Ham could benefit from AFCON during that crucial period too.
Man City’s quality means they will be relatively unaffected by the absence of Egyptian Omar Marmoush for the West Ham clash after Villa.
West Ham’s major AFCON boost shows it’s not all bad news for Nuno
It is when West Ham play that crucial home match against Fulham that AFCON will give Nuno a big helping hand, though.
The Cottagers will be missing three absolutely key players with Calvin Bassey, Alex Iwobi and Samuel Chukwueze all set to be away with Nigeria when West Ham face them.
The Fulham trio have been among Marco Silva’s best players of late. So that will give the Hammers real hope of getting a much-needed win.
Another fundamental player will be missing for the opposition when West Ham take on Brighton at the London Stadium three days later as midfielder Carlos Baleba will be away with Cameroon.
Wolves look down already but will be even worse when the Hammers go to Molineux as key defender Emmanuel Agbadou will be with reigning AFCON champions Ivory Coast.
When West Ham then face Nottingham Forest on January sixth, Ibrahim Sangare and Willy Boly will be missing as they are also in the Ivory Coast squad.
Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi are both Nigerian internationals who would be called up. But Aina has been out of action since having a hamstring operation in September and Awoniyi has been besieged by his own injury problems and is another major doubt for AFCON.
When West Ham play Spurs they could be without a key player in the shape of Senegal’s Pape Matar Sarr. Although ex Hammer Mohammed Kudus will be available if fit because Ghana failed to qualify.
The Hammers then face Sunderland six days after the AFCON final.
The Black Cats are among the clubs impacted most by absences with former Hammers fan favourite Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Habib Diarra (Senegal), Reinildo (Mozambique) and Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast) set to be involved in the tournament.
Some of those could be available if their teams are out a week before the final.
But this proves it is not all bad news for West Ham when it comes to AFCON and their most crucial spell of the campaign.
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