The top Premier League players at the AFCON and Asian Cup

This month is one of those times that Premier League clubs wish they do not have African or Asian players as their key men.

The AFCON for African national teams starts this month, and the top clubs around Europe will lose important players for around a month, depending on how much progress their countries make in the competition.

It is the same story for the Asian stars as the Asian Cup is held this month and runs into February, so there will be an exodus of top talents from the Premier League and other top competitions in the world.

Pep Guardiola has often been called names for not signing African players and fell out with Yaya Toure at Barcelona and Manchester City, which confirmed to most people that he may not fancy African players.

However, he seems to win this time as he would not lose any key player to the AFCON or Asian Cup.

City has been plagued by inconsistency and are five points behind Liverpool on the league table, albeit with a game in hand.

It is easy to see that the Citizens remain one of the clubs who can win the league, and most people still have them as their favourites to win the title.

Premier League tickets buyers know this month will be an important one in the title race, and it is hard not to see that City could be the champions of England.

As Arsenal and Liverpool loses some of their important men for weeks, the Citizens can recover Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne and begin to win as many games as possible before those players return to England.

We have profiled some of the most important players who will be away from the Premier League for the rest of January and some of February.

Takehiro Tomiyasu, Arsenal (Japan)

Takehiro Tomiyasu is one of the most important players at Arsenal because of his solidity and versatility.

The Japan international has been the subject of transfer interest from clubs all over Europe, even though he is not a guaranteed starter.

Arsenal know this and wants to extend his contract, which points to the fact that he is such an important player for the Gunners.

He will miss several of their matches, which might include the Premier League game against Liverpool at the start of February, depending on how far Japan goes in the Asian Cup.

Wataru Endo, Liverpool (Japan)

Liverpool wanted to sign Romeo Lavia and Moises Caicedo in the summer, but they missed out on both players and settled for Endo.

He was an unfancied player, but the Reds knew they signed a hardworking midfielder, and he has proven to be a superb buy.

While the other two have struggled at Chelsea, Endo has become a key cog in the wheel for Liverpool, and they will miss him so much.

In the last few weeks, the Japan star has been a starter in most games, and his ball recovery ability makes him one of the top players in the Premier League now.

Endo will miss key Liverpool games, including the Carabao Cup semi-finals against Fulham, the Premier League game against Chelsea and the cracker against Arsenal at the Emirates.

Mohamed Salah, Liverpool (Egypt)

Endo will be a big miss for Liverpool, but a bigger miss will be Mohamed Salah, who has been in fantastic form for the Reds this term.

The Egyptian has now become one of Liverpool’s top ten all time goal-scorers and has also reached 150 Premier League goals, one of the few players to achieve this.

Salah is a living legend and is getting better with age, as he has shown this season.

He was terrific in his final game before heading to join the Egypt national team for the AFCON, and Liverpool has to stay in the title race before he returns.

However, that will be very tough to do as he will miss several tough game for the Reds, including crunch matches against Chelsea and Arsenal, which will be pivotal to their success in this second half of the season.

Andre Onana, Manchester United, Cameroon

Onana was the best goalkeeper in the Champions League last season and has been a key player for United this term.

The Cameroonian has had a tough start to life in the Premier League this term and is one of the goalies who make mistakes.

However, Onana is the best goalkeeper at Manchester United and this explains why they want him to stay and play their game against Tottenham before heading to AFCON, even though Cameroon plays a day later.

Yves Bissouma, Tottenham (Mali) 

Yves Bissouma has become a very important player for Tottenham since Ange Postecoglou became their manager at the start of this season.

The Malian was superb at Brighton, but he struggled at Spurs last season and only became relevant on their team.

He has put Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg on the bench this term and is probably more important than most people think.

The midfielder will play for Mali at the AFCON, and depending on how far they go in the competition, he could miss their crunch match against Manchester United, among several others.

Son Heung-min, Tottenham (South Korea)

Son is beginning to show his best form at Tottenham again, and the South Korean will be a huge miss for the Lilywhites.

After the departure of Harry Kane in the summer, he became the club’s main man after spurning the advances of clubs from Saudi Arabia.

The South Korean has been brilliant this term, with 12 Premier League goals in 20 matches, which makes him one of the leading scorers in the competition.

Spurs want to return to the top four, and in the next few games without him in the team, they will be required to do a lot of work on the pitch and must find new goalscorers for the team. 

Mohammed Kudus, West Ham (Ghana)

Kudus has been sensational for West Ham, and it feels like the top Premier League clubs will regret not signing him from Ajax.

He was Ghana’s best player at the World Cup and should have left Ajax in the last campaign.

West Ham took a chance on him, and he has since become one of their finest players, with six Premier League goals and three more in the Europa League.

He will miss at least one tough game against Manchester United, and if Ghana reaches the final, he will not play the London Derby against Arsenal.

Kaoru Mitoma, Brighton, (Japan)

There are a few attackers who are as delightful to watch as Brighton’s Mitoma, which is why we expect him to move to a top club soon.

The Japan star is such a fine dribbler who makes life hard for every right-back tasked with defending against him in games.

Brighton has a big squad with impressive players, but without Mitoma in their squad, it will be hard for them to win games like the derby against Crystal Palace.