Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham handed major boost as AFCON 2025 decision made
A number of Premier League clubs were hit hard by unavailability of players during the African Cup of Nations last month. A host of players were away for up to a month due to the tournament taking place in January and February.
Tottenham were without midfielders Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma for a significant amount of time, while Arsenal were missing Mohamed Elneny, and would have been missing Thomas Partey too, had he been fit enough to be called up for Ghana.
Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson was also at the tournament, alongside a number of other Premier League stars. But that will not be happening next season.
The 2025 AFCON tournament will be taking place in the summer, as opposed to mid-season, after an agreement was reached in principle to move the competition back to its regular spot.
The 2024 tournament was moved to mid-season because of the summer weather in host country Ivory Coast, who went on to win the whole thing, beating Nigeria in the final. The 2025 edition of the tournament will be held in Morocco — the far north of the continent — and will be held in July and August, after the Premier League campaign ends.
The same players from Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are likely to be involved, providing they do not leave, while there could be others involved too.
The news will hand clubs a boost when it comes to transfers too. Club officials may have been put off signing players from the continent with the tournament mid-season, due to not being available for a number of games. That will now not be the case
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