The players will return in FPL Gameweek 22

There were 23 Premier League players still playing in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) ahead of the quarter-finals – but only 14 remain after the last eight matches were played on Friday and Saturday.

In our latest regular round-up, we tell you how many players we could see soon and who remains in Morocco.

GAMEWEEK/AFCON ROUND OVERVIEW

Before we start, let’s remember how the AFCON rounds match up to the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Match Week:

SHOULD BE BACK AT GAMEWEEK 22

Three of the 33 Premier League players who traveled to AFCON have returned to Premier League action after their countries were eliminated.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Thank you Chirewa (£4.3m) involved in Gameweek 20, with the Burnley duo Hannibal Mejbri (£4.7 million) and Lyle Foster (£4.9m) reappeared in Gameweek 21.

Here’s what we can expect to see back in England’s top flight in Gameweek 22:

Noah Sadiki (£4.9 million) and Axel Tuanzebe (£3.9m), indeed, returns to their club’s FA Cup matchday squad on Saturday.

Bryan Mbeumo (£8.1 million), Rayan Ait-Nouri (£5.7 million) is Dango Ouattara (£5.8m) is one of the most famous names we can expect to see in Matchday 22.

The pre-match press conferences on Thursday and Friday this weekend are worth a listen, just to confirm that each of the players above have not been given a long post-tournament break by their managers.

But that doesn’t mean this AFCON contingent has recorded more playing time than their teammates in their home countries. Mbeumo has played 405 minutes since he left for Morocco, meanwhile Matheus Cunha (£8.2m) has logged 434 Premier League minutes for Manchester United.

EXPECTED TO RETURN AT GAMEWEEK 23

The four countries above, and the players listed, have all reached the semifinals. In FPL terms, that means there’s no going back until Gameweek 23.

Even if a player’s home country is knocked out of the top four, there is still a battle for third/fourth place up for grabs at the end of Gameweek 22.

And, lest you think that the eliminated semi-finalists might let some of their players return to England early, rather than stay for the bronze medal, that has not been the case in previous tournaments. Yoane warned (£7.3 million) in 2023, Bertrand Traore (£5.5 million) in 2021 and Alex Iwobi (£6.3m) in 2019 is an example of a Premier League player featuring in the third/fourth place race.

So, things like that Ismail Sarr (£6.4 million), Indian education (£6.2 million), Mohamed Salah (£14.0 million) and Omar Marmoush (£8.3m) will almost certainly not be seen until Matchday 23.