Departure of African stars ‘will hurt a lot’

THE imminent departure of four Leicester City players to the Africa Cup of Nations will “hurt a lot”, manager Brendan Rodgers has said.

After the New Year’s Day fixture with Norwich, Wilfred Ndidi, Kelechi Iheanacho (both Nigeria), Daniel Amartey (Ghana), and Papy Mendy (Senegal) will link up with their national teams ahead of the monthlong tournament in Cameroon.

Their departure is significant to City because of the injury situation they find themselves in.

Ndidi and Amartey formed the centre-back partnership for Tuesday night’s heroic 1-0 win over Liverpool, with Jonny Evans, Caglar Soyuncu, and Wesley Fofana all out injured. After they leave, City will have only one fit senior centre-back in Jannik Vestergaard.

And up front, with Iheanacho leaving and with Patson Daka out injured, City will not have any alternatives to Jamie Vardy, who appeared to be struggling with his hamstring during the final stages of the win over Liverpool.

The quartet could miss four or five games, depending on how far their countries make it through the tournament.

Those knocked out in the group stages may only miss two City matches, the FA Cup third-round tie against Watford and a home Premier League fixture against Brighton.

Those that go further will miss a trip to Burnley and, if City have progressed, the fourth round of the FA Cup.

If they make it through to the final, the return fixture at Liverpool on February 10 may come too soon for them.

“It will hurt a lot because of the situation we’re in,” Rodgers said on their departures next week.

“However, it’s important for these guys to play. They love playing in this competition, and it’s important for them to be playing for their countries.”

Ademola Lookman will be staying with City, having not been included in the Nigeria squad. The winger, a former England youth international, applied to switch his allegiance to the country of his parents’ nationality earlier this season.

The tournament kicks off on Sunday, January 9, with the final on Sunday, February 6.