‘It’s going to be hard’ – Amorim on Mbeumo, Mazraoui, Amad going to AFCON

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has admitted the team will be affected when Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui, and Amad Diallo leave in December to join their respective nations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Mbeumo, who scored his fifth Premier League goal in a 2-2 draw against Tottenham on Saturday will represent Cameroon in Morocco, while Mazraoui will turn out for the Atlas Lions and Diallo will represent Cameroon.

With the AFCON tournament set to kick off in December, Amorim was asked after the Spurs game whether he will reinforce the squad.

‘Let’s see when the window is open’

“We have to check everything. We have to check what’s happened with Ben. Of course we already knew we would have a problem there [with AFCON] but we already knew,” said Amorim as quoted by Man United website.

“You can prepare that in the summer, you have a lot of players that are not going to play because it’s one game a week, so you have to manage that situation, and it’s going to be hard. Let’s see when the window is open if we can improve the team, to see if we can repair something that’s happened. We’ll see.”

Out of 11 matches, Mbeumo has scored five goals and provided one assist, while Diallo has managed 10 matches, scored one goal, and provided two assists. For Mazraoui, he has managed five matches for United but is yet to score.

At the AFCON, Cameroon have been drawn in Group F alongside Gabon, African champions Ivory Coast, and Mozambique, while Mazraoui’s Morocco are in Group A alongside Mali, Comoros, and Zambia.