With AFCON and the Asian Cup starting this month, find out which Wolves players have been called up and how long they could be gone.
The two biggest tournaments in Africa and Asia are set to begin within the next two weeks.
AFCON will start on January 13th and is hosted by the Ivory Coast. The final set to take place on February 11th.
Meanwhile, the Asian Cup begins on January 12th in current holders Qatar. The final for this cup will take place on February 10th.
Multiple Premier League teams have been affected this year by their running with key players leaving from all sides.
Wolves have been unable to escape its clutches with three highly important players now leaving the squad to join up with their international sides.
In this article, we explore which players are leaving and how long they are expected to be out of Wolves’ plans for.
Boubacar Traore – AFCON
Boubacar Traore has been a regular for Wolves this season, making 12 Premier League appearances out of a possible 20.
He also made a brief cameo in the 3-0 win over Everton where he made a positive impact in seeing the result out.
The midfielder has been called up by Mali to take place in the upcoming tournament. The 22-year-old only has one cap to his name so far for his country, in a 1-1 draw against Algeria in November 2022.
Placed in a group with South Africa, Tunisia and Namibia, Mali’s campaign kicks off on January 16th.
Traore’s side is expected to progress through the group but isn’t expected to go too far in the tournament.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – AFCON
Rayan Ait-Nouri has been one of Wolves’ standout players so far this season. Despite his career at Wolves looking like it might come to an end in the summer Gary O’Neil has helped to resurge the 22-year-old’s career in the West Midlands.
After a successful first half of the season, Ait-Nouri has now been called up to the Algerian squad. Despite being born in France, the fullback decided to represent Algeria back in January 2023 which saw him collect his first cap against Niger in March.
Algeria has been drawn into a group with Angola, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. This will begin on January 15th.
Ait-Nouri’s side is seen as one of the favourites for the tournament meaning that the fullback could well still be in AFCON until the final on February 11th.
This means that the 22-year-old could miss fixtures against Brighton, Man United, Chelsea and Brentford in the Premier League as well as the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup.
Hwang Hee-Chan – Asian Cup
Another vital player for Wolves so far this season. Hwang Hee-Chan has netted 11 times this season including two goals in a 4-1 win over Brentford two games back.
Thanks to this fantastic form, Hwang has now been selected in the South Korean squad for the Asian Cup. The attacker has been a mainstay in the Korean side since his debut in 2016 and has 59 caps for his country.
His biggest moment on the international stage so far came in the 2022 World Cup when he scored a stoppage-time winner past Portugal to see South Korea progress into the round of 16.
In the Asian Cup, Hwang has been drawn against Bahrain, Jordan and Malaysia in the group stage. This will begin on January 15th.
South Korea is largely considered to be one of the favourites to win the tournament. This means that, like Ait-Nouri, Hwang could miss up to six games on international duty.