Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has challenged his players to grasp the opportunities that will arise when Amad, Noussair Mazraoui and Bryan Mbeumo compete at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament in Morocco begins on 21 December and ends on 18 January.
That means our participants could miss up to six Premier League fixtures: Aston Villa (A), Newcastle United (H), Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), Leeds United (A), Burnley (A) and Manchester City (H).
The third round of the Emirates FA Cup will also take place during this period, on the weekend of 10 January.
During a press conference at Carrington on Thursday afternoon, Ruben was asked about the prospect of losing his African players at a crucial stage of the season.
“We have time to suffer with that,”he said. “We are going to struggle a little bit.
“But we already knew [that]. It is going to be an opportunity because when I watch the training, there are players that should be playing, but it is hard with one game to take some players from the team because they are going well also, during training and the games.
“Other players are going to have the opportunity to help us, they are understanding the way we want to play. The change of characteristics are not going to change the idea or the momentum of the team, but let's use Amad and Bryan in these games and then we will see in January.”
FIXTURES DURING AFCON
21 Dec: Aston Villa (A)
27 Dec: Newcastle United (H)*
30 Dec: Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)*
3 Jan: Leeds United (A)*
7 Jan: Burnley (A)*
10 Jan: FA Cup third-round tie*
17 Jan: Manchester City (H)*
*Date TBC.
21 Dec: Aston Villa (A)
27 Dec: Newcastle United (H)*
30 Dec: Wolverhampton Wanderers (H)*
3 Jan: Leeds United (A)*
7 Jan: Burnley (A)*
10 Jan: FA Cup third-round tie*
17 Jan: Manchester City (H)*
*Date TBC.
COME TO SEE UNITED
Click here to buy tickets on general sale for the home games against Everton and West Ham United.