Confirmed: Amorim will have to make do without ‘special’ star for crunch festive fixtures after new development

Ivory Coast announced their squad for the upcoming African Cup of Nations tournament on Tuesday, with Amad Diallo confirmed to be amongst the mix.While it was anticipated that that would be the case anyway, it has now been set in stone that Ruben Amorim will have to make do without the Manchester United livewire for around a month. Amad Diallo has been called up by Ivory Coast for the AFCON. pic.twitter.com/CkS7wkgqmq — utdreport (@utdreport) December 9, 2025Amad officially called up to play at AFCON(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)The team aren’t in action until December 24 when they kick off their campaign against Mozambique in Marrakesh. However, it’s expected that Premier League clubs will have to release their international players on December 15 – the same day United host Bournemouth at Old Trafford in an 8pm kick-off.That means Amorim could well be without Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui against a side who’ve recorded successive 3-0 wins in M16 in the last two seasons. Amorim on his players leaving for AFCON: “The club is talking with the national teams, let’s wait for the middle of the week. “I don’t know for sure but we are doing our job and the national teams are talking with us. That’s a good sign, let’s see.”#MUFC pic.twitter.com/y427hW9Vab — Stretford Paddock (@StretfordPaddck) December 8, 2025AFCON’s final is pencilled in for January 18, so, in the event that at least one Red makes it that far with their nation, they’ll miss pretty much the entire festive run of fixtures – including United’s FA Cup opener at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in early January.How Amad has fared in 2025/2026(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)Amad, hailed as a ‘special’ talent by MUTV’s pundits, has started every league game this term except for the defeat to Arsenal on matchday one, while he also missed the trip to face Brentford through bereavement leave.The 23-year-old has returned a goal and three assists, and has formed a particularly successful relationship with Mbeumo, who’s scored six times already in his first 15 appearances.Amorim will be hoping to have Benjamin Sesko back at his disposal as swiftly as possible to help paper over the cracks of his absentees; the striker has been unavailable since before the November international break with a knee injury, but is thought to be edging closer to his return in the coming weeks.