which Ligue 1 teams will lose the most players in January?
From January 9 to February 6, Cameroon will host the Africa Cup of Nations. During this period, almost all Ligue 1 clubs will lose players, but some more than others.
The deadline has been set for January 4. Next Tuesday, the clubs will be required to release their African internationals for the African Cup of Nations. The CAF (African Football Confederation) has granted an additional week for the clubs to prepare to compose without certain players. Some Ligue 1 residents will have to adapt very quickly to the absence of several executives.
They suffer big losses
Frédéric Antonetti is going to have quite a headache. His FC Metz, 18th and play-off, has no less than 7 players leaving for Cameroon. And not least, since 5 regular holders – Oukidja, Boulaya (Algeria) Bronn (Tunisia), Kouyaté (Mali) and Sarr (Senegal) – will be unavailable. An unacceptable situation according to the Metz coach who has been aware of the calendar for a long time … « CAN takes seven to eight players. It’s a rigged, warped game», He pleaded.
Location close to Saint Etienne, red lantern. Four holders – Moukoudi, Neyou (Cameroon), Khazri (Tunisia), Bouanga (Gabon) – will miss the call, as will Sow (Guinea), who made several freelances in central defense.
the FC Nantes will also suffer since 4 players will be packing in January. Antoine Kombouaré will be deprived, among others, of Moses Simon (Nigeria), in great shape, and Jean-Charles Castelletto (Cameroon).
16th at the break, Clermont will have a lot to do in the second part of the season. The Auvergne will also be deprived of three players, but above all of their top scorer, Mohamed Bayo (Guinea) who scored 9 of the team’s 20 goals. A little higher in the second part of the table, Angers and Reims will both lose four players, including several holders. Boufal (Morocco) and Ebosse (Cameroon) will miss Gérald Baticle, like Konan (Ivory Coast) and Touré (Mali) for Oscar Garcia.
These « Europeans » will have to find alternatives
The fight for European places will also be impacted, since Reindeer will drop four holders: Gomis (Senegal), Sulemana (Ghana), Traoré (Mali), Aguerd (Morocco). Bruno Genesio does not intend to compensate for these departures, favoring internal solutions: « we have to trust the players and we have young people behind who can help out in the event of a hard blow.«
Lyon and the Paris Saint Germain will also have to tap into the depth of their benches. The Lyonnais will be stripped offensively, without Slimani (Algeria), Toko-Ekambi (Cameroon) and Kadewere (Zimbabwe). As for the Parisians, it is the defensive sector which will be devoid of Diallo, Gueye (Senegal) and Hakimi (Morocco).
No or few departures
The rest of the teams will not suffer more than two losses. Nice, runner-up to PSG, will still have to do without Lemina (Gabon) and Attal (Algeria), both holders. Strasbourg, Marseilles and Lens will also each have two starts, rotating players. The Alsatians will lose Djiku (Ghana) and Diallo (Senegal), who will join the Marseillais Gueye and Dieng (Senegal). On the Lensois side, it is Ganago (Cameroon) and Haïdara (Mali), who will be packing their bags on January 4.
On the side of Troyes, Montpellier, Bordeaux and Brest, only one departure will have to be recorded. Only two teams, AS Monaco and LOSC, have no African international summoned in their squad.
