The end of AFCON has already transformed Man United’s season

For 90 precious minutes on Saturday afternoon, everything was right at Old Trafford. The wretched Manchester United burst like a phoenix from the ashes of an FA Cup calamity to chew up and spit out their crosstown rivals, a complete performance from the barrel-scraping Red Devils.

Manchester City, accustomed to getting things their way in the North West, represent everything United don’t, particularly in the dugout. Pep Guardiola has outlasted five United bosses as his well-oiled machine has amassed silverware with a grim inevitability.

But in the weekend’s early kick-off they were outclassed , cut to ribbons by Michael Carrick’s new-look United whose swashbuckling football rolled back the years. Sir Alex Ferguson beamed down from the stands as his latest protégé fist-pumped in the technical area, and a whole fanbase dared to dream.

How did we get here? Boardroom wranglings in Manchester, which culminated in the unceremonious dumping of Ruben Amorim, were the catalyst. Hard yards and unexpected inspiration at Carrington under Carrick provided the fuel.

But it’s just possible that two of the most significant events happened in Agadir and Rabat a week earlier.

Only 13 African players have ever represented United , and three of them are key members of the current squad. Bryan Mbeumo , Amad and Noussair Mazraoui jetted to Morocco in December as part of a chaotic Amorim project which was nevertheless lurching in roughly the right direction.

In a blatant demonstration of their importance Amad and Mbeumo returned to immediately spearhead United’s remarkable deconstruction of City under Carrick. AFCON finalist Mazraoui is yet to work with his new interim head coach but stands every chance of displacing the consistently inconsistent Diogo Dalot at right-back.

United have generally noted AFCON without being affected by the competition, but the 2025-26 season feels like a tipping point – it is now something to plan for, and plan for hard.

The Red Devils stalled horribly over the festive period, but it is no coincidence that Amorim argued his way to redundancy and Darren Fletcher failed to secure a win while three of the squad’s best players were missing.

Carrick got everything right against City, but that included reaching for some previously absent resources; in Amad and Mbeumo, he was able to draw on two of the club’s most potent forwards whose absence had created such fatal flaws for his predecessors.

Amad’s uncannily effective high press and constant attacking threat were all too much for Nathan Ake and Jeremy Doku, who endured a torrid time at the hands of the diminutive Ivorian.

And, deployed through the middle, Mbeumo shook off some Premier League ring rust to arrow home United’s opener, lighting the touchpaper on a match primed for detonation for over an hour.

But had the AFCON quarter finals gone differently, perhaps the Manchester derby would also have been different. Amad’s Ivory Coast were beaten 3-2 by Egypt in a quarter final the day after Mbeumo’s Cameroon were knocked out by Morocco, for whom Mazraoui started at left-back.

As disappointed as those players would have been, it’s hard to overstate how significant the results were for United. Now, with the African trio back in Manchester, Carrick’s options have dramatically improved.

Between them, Amad, Mazraoui and Mbeumo have become United linchpins; their combined 165 appearances account for over a quarter of the games ever played for United by players from African countries. Realistically United won’t be reprising their City heroics every week, but they stand a much better chance with those players available. The next challenge is planning for December 2027.

Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images

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