Mendes and Marciano earn international call-ups for AFCON and Kaiky off to pre-Olympic qualifiers
The winger and the striker will represent Guinea-Bissau in the African Cup of Nations, while the centre-back will join up with Brazil U23s. Baba has been shortlisted by Ghana, while Senegal, Lopy's national team, has not yet announced its squad list
The Africa Cup of Nations, which is set to be held from 13th January to 11th February in Ivory Coast. UD Almería have already had to deal with both Mendes and Marciano
The pair have been called up by Guinea-Bissau, whose national federation counted on both to participate in the previous team get-together that kicks off on 28th December, the day on which UD Almería will resume training after the Christmas holidays.
As for Baba, the central midfielder has been shortlisted by Ghana and if he receives the international call-up in the end, he will join up with his national team on 1st January.
The Senegal squad list remains to be announced, in which Lopy could be named. Despite being only 21 years old, the defensive midfielder has already been an international regular with his home country.
There are many top-flight clubs that are going to be affected by the AFCON and will no doubt already be plotting ways to get the best out of their teams. There are negotiations going on so that the footballers could delay their departure and play, at least, the first day of 2024.
One thing is for sure, Baba will not feature on 4th January against CA Osasuna in Pamplona since he saw his fifth yellow card of the season against Barça.
In addition, Kaiky has also been called up by the Brazil squad for the pre-Olympic qualifiers and will feature in the tournament from 20th January to 11th February.