Man Utd bid to exploit loophole for second time to navigate hectic fixture schedule

View 2 Images

Manchester United are accelerating discussions over the release dates for the Africa Cup of Nations for Bryan Mbeumo, Amad and Noussair Mazraoui. The trio could miss up to eight Premier League matches and the third round of the FA Cup , depending on how Cameroon, Ivory Coast and hosts Morocco do in the competition.

But United are hoping to delay their stars' exits , and Ruben Amorim wants them at his disposal to face Bournemouth on December 15. The Red Devils have lost the clash 3-0 in each of the last two seasons.

Under AFCON rules, players must be released two weeks prior to their opening match. Morocco play in the first game of the tournament when they face Comoros as hosts on December 21.

Ivory Coast and Cameroon play the first games on December 24. That would mean Amad and Mbeumo should depart no later than following the Wolves game on December 8.

Amorim confirmed last week that talks are underway with international federations regarding flexibility in the matter. "We have the rules for when we have to release the players, but we are trying to have the players a bit longer," the United coach said.

"It is not just in our hands. We will try to arrange something with the federations."

United did not engage in talks until late in the international break but are keen to retain the services of all three players, per Mail Online . United are hoping for assistance after the club's lack of depth was exposed in defeat to Everton .

A decision is yet to be made, according to reports. United have previously had success in such negotiations when they struck a deal with Cameroon so that Andre Onana only missed one game during AFCON two years ago.

View 2 Images

Amorim has not ruled out delving into the transfer market to cope with the winter blow to his squad. The Portuguese coach has accepted the negative impacts of doing deals may mean business is not possible.

"Of course, we are going to have a problem there [with AFCON]," he said. "But we already knew.

"Then you can prepare that in the summer, but then you have a lot of players in the summer who are not going to play because it's one game per week. So the management of that situation is going to be hard.

"But let's see when the window is open, if we can improve the team and try to prepare something that happened. Until then, we have to take the chance."

Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle ahead of the 2025/26 season, saving members £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.