Noussair Mazraoui AFCON release angers Manchester United

Manchester United have now lost Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo for the duration of the Africa Cup of Nations, marking the start of a tricky spell at Old Trafford.

The trio have been called up for Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon respectively, with the international rules relaxed to support clubs heading into the festive period.

Initially rules state that players need to be released for international duty two weeks before the start of any major international tournament, putting the release date at 8th December.

However, with the amount of Premier League fixtures this would affect, FIFA agreed for the timescale to be reduced by a week, giving a new departure deadline of 15th December.

As such, with United playing Bournemouth on the 15th, there was initially hope that all three would be able to travel after the game, which unfortunately wasn’t to be.

Whilst Diallo and Mbeumo still played for The Red Devils in the 4-4 draw, Noussair Mazraoui was not able to make the game.

Now, BBC Sport has reported that the handling of his release has angered United, who had been preparing all week for him to feature in the squad.

Negotiations were reportedly still taking place on Friday 12th December regarding Mazraoui’s release, with all other Premier League fixtures taking place before the 15th.

It’s understood that United escalated the situation to the world football governing body over the unfair treatment, with Morocco having refused to back down.

These frustrations were also felt by Italian side AS Roma and Spanish side Real Betis who experienced the same issues with Morocco.

As such, it seems that FIFA’s encouragement for “bilateral discussions” to be held “in good faith to find appropriate individual solutions” were not at the forefront of Morocco’s negotiations.