Off the back of the club’s Premier League triumph, AFCON has provided Liverpool with a huge boost in their hunt to retain their title next season.
The Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is an international competition held every two years featuring, you guessed it, the best of Africa’s national sides.
The competition itself is typically held at the start of the new year, from January to February.
In 2018, this meant that Liverpool found themselves without star wingers Sadio Mane (Senegal), Mohammed Salah (Egypt), for the campaign’s two most fixture-heavy months.
All @LFC fans when #Salah and Mané leave for AFCON in January 2018.. #LFC #YNWA pic.twitter.com/57q7xCjSAv
— Scott Groom (@ScottCGroom) June 22, 2017
Amidst the suspension of football across the world, Euro 2020 was the first major competition to be put on hold.
Fears that, even if football were to return, an event of such a large scale featuring individuals from across the world might put players’ and staff’s safety at risk, was enough to delay the tournament.
However, AFCON would not follow suit. Instead, the organisation opted to reconvene at a later date to discuss the potential of delaying the tournament.
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Typically, squads look to strengthen ahead of the foreseen absences of their best players. However, with major clubs facing losses in the tens of millions due to COVID, recruitment for most will likely be minimalistic, if not nil.
In Liverpool’s case, this would mean the quality of first-teamers Salah, Mane and Naby Keita would be substituted for fringe-players such as Takumi Minamino, Divock Origi and Oxlade-Chamberlain for a month at the least.
However, as per media channels this morning, AFCON representatives have finally made up their minds.
The CAF Executive Committee has decided to postpone the AFCON 2021 to January 2022 in Cameroon. Four qualifying match days to go.
The rainy weather in Cameroon in June/July remains a constant factor. pic.twitter.com/zfP2rhbPUL
— Usher Komugisha (@UsherKomugisha) June 30, 2020
The competition is to be delayed until 2022, meaning that the Reds will be with their African stars for the entirety of a season in which they will be looking to retain their Premier League crowns.
Furthermore, with this additional year, the club has been provided with a greater window in which they can financially recover before investing in the transfer market to reinforce their squad depth.
This news will only add to the recent jubilations of Jurgen Klopp and his back-room staff, handed a boost in their quest to become champions of England for a second time in as many years.
