Major Leeds United transfer consideration required as targets could be ruled out for six weeks

The Whites have been linked with moves for Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofana and Nigerian midfielder Christanthus Uche this week, although the latter’s agent has played down reports suggesting an Elland Road move is not on the cards.

Whilst links to both players so early in the transfer window are likely to be driven by sources external to the club, when recruiting this summer Leeds must be conscious of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCoN), which is scheduled to take place during the upcoming festive period.

The biennial tournament, equivalent to UEFA’s European Championships, pits Africa’s best sides against each other, although unlike the Euros the competition takes place midway through the Premier League season.

For that reason, clubs in England may be reluctant to invest a considerable portion of their summer budgets into players who could miss up to six weeks of the league campaign.

There are, of course, exceptions to this, as Manchester United look set to spend heavily on Brentford’s Cameroonian international Bryan Mbeumo, while Liverpool probably don’t regret signing Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah, who has missed several games for the Anfield club over the years, due to AFCoN.

For Leeds, however, the club’s budget is restricted somewhat by the team’s participation in the Championship over the past two seasons, which has seen the maximum loss allowed under Profitability and Sustainability regulations fall from £105 million over three seasons, to £61 million. Their Premier League peers, at least those who have spent the past three seasons in the top flight, are allowed to lose up to that £105 million figure, therefore permitting a greater transfer spend in most cases, in addition to having received comparatively astronomical Premier League revenue in the years Leeds did not.

United’s summer business needs to be broadly successful in order for the team to stand a chance of staying in English football’s elite club of 20. There must be more hits than misses and players departing to represent their countries for several weeks of the season, potentially on sub-standard pitches which has been the case in past editions of AFCoN, are at greater risk of injury.

When availability is such a commodity for newly-promoted teams’ key players, relied-upon members of the squad being absent for an extended period diminishes the chance of survival.

AFCoN 2025 kicks off in Morocco on December 21 later this year, with the final scheduled to be played on January 18, 2026. The four-week tournament takes place during European football’s winter break, but in England fixtures carry on throughout the festive period in what is traditionally a busy time for the football calendar, comprising up to seven matches.

That is not to say Leeds will avoid signing players who may end up competing at AFCoN on principle. If the right player for Daniel Farke’s side, who will enhance the starting lineup, happens to be an international likely to appear at the tournament, Leeds are likely to pursue a transfer regardless. It is, however, a consideration for the recruitment process.

Which countries have qualified this year?

Alongside hosts Morocco, there will be appearances from Mali, Comoros, Zambia, Egypt, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Tunisia, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, DR Congo, Benin, Botswana, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Equatorial Guinea, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique at AFCoN 2025.

While not all nationalities listed are represented in the Premier League, there are several players who will not be available to their clubs at the end of December and throughout the bulk of January.

Currently, Leeds have no such players in their existing first-team squad, but that could of course change by the time the summer window closes in just under 13 weeks.