Arsenal are now likely to be without up to four players for a month during next season.
The Gunners, and indeed their rivals, have the African Cup of Nations to contend with next year. The competition, hosted by Cameroon, is set to be held across January and February of 2022.
The tournament was originally set to be played this summer, but due to the coronavirus situation, it was moved back to take place next winter.
And that's bad news for any club that has African players whose country has qualified for the competition. Those players will have to take a break from club competition to participate.
That accounts for up to four Arsenal players with Nicolas Pepe and Ivory Coast wrapping up qualification after beating Niger this evening, qualifying with a game to spare.
Pepe follows Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon), Mohamed Elneny (Egypt) in qualifying for next year's AFCON, and that will be a real blow for Mikel Arteta with Thomas Partey and Ghana also looking likely to qualify before the current international break is over.
The Gunners boss will now be without four key players at a crucial point in the season, just after games pile up over the festive period.
And what's more, all four of those national teams have a very decent chance of reaching the late stages of the competition, meaning Arsenal won't have much hope of getting their players back before the latter stages of the competition.
It will be interesting to see whether Arteta strengthens in certain areas in the summer to cover for the absence, or whether he opts to sign any versatile players who can fill the gaps.
Though, the Gunners will still be limited to a 25-man Premier League squad, meaning there will be little room for manoeuvre when the four players do jet off come January.
