The 2017 African Cup of Nations runs from January 14 to February 5 in Gabon, and in turn it will see various Premier League stars miss club action while away.
It’s not an ideal situation for any of the parties concerned as teams will be without some big players while they will have to break off and start training with a new group and play with added pressure potentially for up to a month.
However, all who feature will be desperate to win the competition, and it will see some top Premier League stars take part.
Manchester United will be without summer signing Eric Bailly who has been hugely impressive in his first three Premier League outings, while Liverpool will Sadio Mane who has also started life very well at his new club.
Those two will be massive absences for their respective clubs, while champions Leicester City will see Riyad Mahrez and new signing Islam Slimani leave to represent Algeria.
Elsewhere, Everton duo Idrissa Gueye and Yannick Bolasie will be gone possibly for a month depending on how Senegal and DR Congo fare, while Mohamed Elneny will allow his Arsenal competition to push ahead of him in the pecking order while with Egypt.
Manchester City misfit Yaya Toure will make the trip for Ivory Coast, but given his lack of playing time so far this season, coupled with being left off the Champions League squad list, his absence may not be too hurtful to City anyway.
Fitness permitting, these players will all be heading to Gabon in the New Year, hoping to return to Premier League duty with a trophy to show for their efforts:
Eric Bailly
Yaya Toure
Wilfried Bony
Lamine Kone
Max Gradel
Riyad Mahrez
Islam Slimani
Jeff Schlupp
Daniel Amartey
Andre Ayew
Idrissa Gueye
Yannick Bolasie
Bakary Sako
Pape N’Diaye Souare
Cheikhou Kouyate
Mame Biram Diouf
Sadio Mane
Allan Nyom
Nordin Amrabat
Mohamed Elneny
Ramadan Sobhi
Wahbi Khazri