MANCHESTER, England -- Ruben Amorim has said Manchester United are hoping to negotiate with the federations of Cameroon, Morocco and Ivory Coast in an attempt to delay the departures of Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui and Amad Diallo ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.
United are set to lose the trio for the duration of the tournament, which runs from Dec. 21 to Jan. 18 in Morocco.
Amorim is expecting Mbeumo, Mazraoui and Amad to be called up two weeks before it kicks off, but he's hopeful deals can be agreed with their respective associations.
United would ideally like to have the strongest squad possible for the trip to Wolves on December 8 and Bournemouth's visit to Old Trafford on Dec. 15.
"We have the rules when we will have to release the players," Amorim said.
"We are trying to have the players a bit longer but we will see. I think it is two weeks before the start. We will try to arrange something with the federations. "We already knew [about AFCON] so it is a chance for other players. It is not ideal, they are so important in our squad."
The issue has been complicated by an injury to Benjamin Sesko, which is set to rule the striker out of Everton's trip to Old Trafford on Monday.
Amorim told a news conference on Friday that the knee problem is "not serious" but the Slovenia international is expected to be sidelined for a number of weeks.
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Harry Maguire is also set to miss out against Everton.
Kobbie Mainoo did not train with the squad on Friday, but the midfielder is expected to take part on Saturday.
"He [Sesko] is going to stay a few weeks out," Amorim said.
"I don't know how long but it is not that serious. We need to be careful with him."