Beşiktaş signed a contract with Eric Bailly last night and made the 9th transfer of the summer period. However, the striking point for the black and white players is that most of the transfers are from the African continent in the season when the African Cup will be played. In Beşiktaş, which signed Amartey, Rebic, Onana, Chamberlain, Rashica, Zaynutdinov and Bailly as foreigners during the transfer period, Amartey, Onana and Bailly are African. Among the foreigners present, Aboubakar, Colley, Masuaku, Ghezzal and Muleka are also African and the number is 8 in total. When this is the case, there is a risk that 8 of the 14 foreigners in the squad will go to the African Cup to be held in January and leave the team alone.
The African Cup of Nations will be held in Ivory Coast from 13 January to 11 February 2024. On the same dates, Beşiktaş will face Karagümrük, Pendikspor, Adana Demirspor, Sivasspor, Trabzonspor and Kayserispor in the league. The fact that Beşiktaş’s 6 matches coincide with this does not mean that 8 players will not be in the team completely. The important thing is the group stages of the cup. After the group stages, the return of the players will be faster as the number of teams will decrease in each round. However, what is also important here is when the country camps will start and how many players will be called. Although the Cup starts on January 13, the 19th week match to be played against Kasımpaşa on the week of January 7 can be included in this program, as the camps will be visited earlier.
THE SITUATION OF BEŞİKTAŞ’S AFRICAN PLAYERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CUP
The latest situation of the African players in Beşiktaş’s squad in the qualifiers is as follows;
Vincent Aboubakar: The fateful match will be played on September 12 between Cameroon and Burundi in Cameroon. Both countries are superior on 4 points and Cameroon in the double goal difference. Since Aboubakar is the apple of the eye of his country as well as Beşiktaş, he will definitely go and try to eliminate Burundi. Should he qualify for the cup (considering that Cameroon has usually played at least quarter-finals), Aboubakar is highly likely to miss at least 5 games.
Jean Onana: Maybe he is the player who is least likely to go. Because he could not find a place for himself in the last 10 matches of Cameroon.
Rachid Ghezzal: Ghezzal, who has just recovered from his injury, is expected to be called to the Algerian national team if he keeps in shape.
Omar Colley: Colley, who has been invited to almost all national matches in the last 5 years, will participate in the African Cup with Gambia. Gambia will qualify for the cup if they score points from Congo in the last match and their fateful match is with Congo on 10 September.
Arthur Masuaku: Masuaku, who was not called to the Democratic Congo National team for 3 years, is a regular in the national team after he started playing in Beşiktaş, and his participation in the African Cup depends on the game they will play against Sudan. While Mauritania leads the group with 8 points, Democratic Congo and Gabon have 7 points and Sudan 6 points. In the last match, there is a group where everything is possible.
Jackson Muleka: Muleka may not be in the Africa Cup either. The Congo national team coach does not favor Muleka very much and has not been called up for the last 7 games. But if he joins, it would not be a surprise if he finds a place in the large roster.
Daniel Amartey: The defender of the Ghana national team, Amartey, will take part in the African Cup and will miss at least 3 games, as he is constantly called up to the national team of his country.
Eric Bailly: The last African player of Beşiktaş, Bailly, will leave the black and white players alone until he is eliminated from the cup, as he is constantly called to the national team when he is the host and is not injured.