Thomas Frank could have Bryan Mbeumo unavailable for at least seven games if Tottenham complete a transfer hijack over Manchester United. The 25-year-old is expected to depart Brentford this summer - with his preferred destination being Old Trafford.
With that revealed to be the case back in May, United have since seen one formal bid rejected, with yet another offer verbalised during discussions that also fell below the Bees' £70million asking price.
The summer window then closed and, in that time, Thomas Frank was appointed as Spurs' new head coach with their chances of landing Mbeumo increasing as a result. By beating United, the side Mbeumo wants to join, in the Europa League final, the Lilywhites also secured Champions League football for the 2025/26 season.
That is two quite significant incentives for the winger to remain in London over moving up north. Nonetheless, it looks as though he is still favouring a move to United but, if a switch to Spurs becomes his priority, a serious issue has already been made clear.
Barring injury, having his services for at least 48 matches will be quite the luxury but, as things turn out, he could actually miss seven games due to international commitments.
In late December, the next edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) kicks off with Mbeumo set to represent Cameroon. Their three group-stage matches take place on Wednesday, December 24, Sunday, December 28 and Wednesday, December 30.
Mbeumo will, therefore, play at least three games at the tournament and that means that he's guaranteed to miss Premier League games against Crystal Palace and former club Brentford. Spurs also play Liverpool four days before Cameroon's first outing with it therefore possible he is absent for that, too.
If his nation reach the knock-out stages - which they are likely to do - then he would definitely miss the visit of Sunderland in early January. The FA Cup third round is the following week and a clash at Bournemouth coming in the midweek before that with progression to the AFCON quarter-finals meaning he would miss both.
A potential Carabao Cup semi-final first leg then follows for Spurs with Mbeumo sure to remain absent for that and a home game against West Ham if Cameroon reach the final.
The worst-case scenario would be that he misses a total of eight fixtures with six of those coming in the Premier League. That is a small price to pay in order to sign a player of his talent, but it is certainly something to take note of with that same problem also likely to be faced in two years.
It is also worth noting that Spurs could also be without Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma during that period as they represent Senegal and Mali, respectively.