Look away Man Utd fans 

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As Premier League managers quietly brace for the disruption of a mid-season Africa Cup of Nations tournament, the financial impact of the competition is just beginning to come into focus. With 2025’s edition set to get underway in Morocco just four days before Christmas on December 21, several clubs face the prospect of losing not just key personnel, but significant chunks of their squad’s market value. This coming at a time of the campaign when depth can define a season.

From title challengers who risk being without star forwards, to mid-table sides built around influential African midfielders and defenders, the spread of potential absences is as wide as it is costly. And with Transfermarkt’s market values providing the benchmark, the scale at stake varies dramatically from club to club – illuminating which squads are most exposed should their stars be called away. Transfermarkt breaks down how much market value each Premier League team stands to lose to AFCON 2025, highlighting the clubs whose January plans may be shaped as much by continental tournaments as by the transfer window itself.

How each Premier League team could be affected by AFCON

When it comes to market value, Manchester United are set to face the biggest loss. Cameroonian Bryan Mbeumo (€70m), Ivorian Amad Diallo (€40m), and Moroccan Noussair Mazraoui (€25m) combine for a total value of €135m’s worth of talent that the Red Devils are likely to miss. Not only that, but in Mbeumo and Diallo, United are losing their entire right hand side of attack – which has been one of the best functioning areas of the team this season. In second place is their city rivals Manchester City with Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush (€75m), and Algerian full-back Rayan Aït-Nouri (€40m) set to depart. Although, neither have been regular starters so far this season.

In third place on the list is Sunderland, who stand to, overall, perhaps be the worst affected side by this season’s AFCON. As many as seven players could be missing, who combine for a total market value of €107m. Crystal Palace rank fourth, with €77m’s worth of talent set to be missing, including key attacker Ismaïla Sarr (€30m). In fifth are bottom-placed Wolves, with as many as five players worth a combined €73m set to head to North Africa. Premier League champions Liverpool rank 11th on the list, but are set to lose star player Mohamed Salah (€45m) to Egypt’s benefit. Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds all stand to be the least-affected, with neither of those sides having any AFCON-qualified nationality players within their first-team squad.