Every two years, the African Cup of Nations decides to reappear out of its cave and become a nuisance for almost every Premier League team. Why the Confederation of African Football cannot be like UEFA or CONMEBOL and host their continental tournament every four years rather than two, nobody knows, but it is a problem European teams have to learn to live with.
Previously, West Ham have not been affected too badly by the biannual tournament. The Hammers have rarely had more than two African players in the first team squad and they have not always been in the starting XI. Two years ago, they lost Cheikhou Kouyate and Alex Song to the tournament, while Diafra Sakho didn’t travel with the Senegal squad because of an injury. Both of their countries crashed out of the tournament at the group stage, too, so it did not have too much of an impact on the Hammers.
However, at next year’s tournament, West Ham are set to lose four first team players for what could be up to a month. Andre Ayew, Sofiane Feghouli, Cheikhou Kouyate and Diafra Sakho will all be representing Ghana, Algeria and Senegal respectively, with Ghana and Algeria expected to go far in the tournament. Out of the four players, Ayew and Kouyate will be missed the most, with the former expected to become the Hammers’ main striker and the latter being a stalwart in the first team.
If West Ham pick up a few injuries in the same period (which is bound to happen), a mini crisis could be on the horizon, but the Hammers’ newfound squad depth should be able to bail them out. It also means that transfer business needs to be astute in January; loan signings could be on the agenda, as could, once again, the pursuit of a new striker should Bilic feel that our current strikers won’t be capable of filling Ayew’s boots.
