Who are the best players headed to Africa in the spring?
The 30th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations comes round this January, and as always there are plenty of Premier League stars who will be leaving their clubs to play in Equatorial Guinea.
Here are the ten players who will be missed most by their clubs:
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10. Sadio Mané – Southampton
His form has dropped off slightly in recent weeks, but Southampton will undoubtedly miss their Senegalese winger.
9. Cheick Tioté – Newcastle United
Has been unsettled at Newcastle in recent times, but is still a key part of Alan Pardew’s side and will be missed, especially with Mehdi Abeid also missing.
8. Jeffrey Schlupp – Leicester City
Leicester are struggling at the moment, and losing one of their most dangerous players for a month won’t help.
7. Papiss Cissé – Newcastle United
Cissé has forced his way back into the Newcastle side recently, not least with his two goals against Chelsea last week.
6. Riyad Mahrez – Leicester City
Another Leicester wide-man who will be leaving them for a spell, to play with a talented Algeria side in Equatorial Guinea.
5. Kolo Touré – Liverpool
The Dejan Lovren disaster has made Touré indispensable for Liverpool, but the Ivory coast star won’t want to miss his last nations cup.
4. Yaya Touré – Manchester City
Manchester City are missing Sergio Aguero for some time, and l0sing Yaya too could derail their title challenge.
3. Diafra Sakho – West Ham United
Sakho is in hot form, and Sam Allardyce will be relived to have Andy Carroll back fit before his Senegalese striker departs.
2. Alex Song – West Ham United
The other key factor in the West Ham resurgence has been Cameroon’s Song, who will be gone for at least a month.
1. Wilfried Bony – Swansea City
Swansea’s powerful Ivorian is the Premier League’s top scorer of 2014, and his loss will be a big blow to Garry Monk’s side. Bafetimbi Gomis will do his best to fill in, but he’s got some big shorts to fill.