Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim will look to hold onto Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui for as long as possible, delaying their departures to the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
The Red Devils are in the midst of a good run of form under Amorim, with Mbeumo and Amad particularly impressive, and have previous experience of holding onto players longer than the stipulated period of time per tournament regulations.
André Onana joined up with Cameroon only a day before their opening encounter of the last Africa Cup of Nations, and he ended up missing just one club game—an FA Cup third round tie with Newport County.
Whether or not United can pull that coup off again is unlikely, but Amorim confirmed in his Friday news conference that the plan is to prevent Mbeumo, Amad and Mazraoui from joining up with their national teams for the slated two weeks before their respective first games.
“We have the rules for when we have to release the players [but] we are trying to have the players a bit longer,” Amorim said. “It is not just in our hands. We will see. We will try to arrange something with the federations.”
Mbeumo’s Impressive Start As a Man Utd Player
Mbeumo’s encouraging start to life at Old Trafford has provided welcome respite for United’s supporters following a tortuous past year. The sacking of Erik ten Hag and appointment of Amorim failed to shift the club’s spiralling momentum in 2024–25, and the ideas of the Portuguese coach are only now starting to resonate with the players—an improvement in performances on the field suggesting the tactical asks of the former Sporting CP boss are slowly sinking in.
United’s attacking threat has significantly increased with Mbeumo in the side, and he’s been complemented on the right by Amad following his switch to right wing back. Mazraoui hasn’t had so much of an impact in 2025–26 because of injury, but remains a versatile, important member of the team.
Elaborating on how United will eventually cope with their departures at a time when the fixture schedule is congested, Amorim said: “It is a concern but we already knew. There is an opportunity for other players.
“We have also the under-21s. We need to send a message in that time so we will see. But of course it is not ideal because they are so important in our team and we don't have a long squad but again, our academy is for these moments and they will be ready.”
One comfort for United is that their focus is solely on the Premier League until the FA Cup gets underway in January next year—Amorim not having to deal with balancing European competition nor Carabao Cup action after a surprise second round defeat to Grimsby Town in August.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Man Utd’s Plan for AFCON Departures Revealed.
