Carl Medjani and Sofiane Feghouli were the major glaring omissions by Algeria coach Georges Leekens as he announced his final 23 member squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.
Leganes’ Medjani, who captained Algeria in 2016, has struggled for game time at his club and the same goes from West Ham’s Feghouli, who is likely to seek an exit from the London club in January.
The big names in Leekens’ squad are the Leicester duo of Slimani and Mahrez, plus Porto’s Brahimi, Schalke’s Bentaleb and Napoli’s Ghoulam. Four of the 23 member squad ply their trade in Algeria, with the vast majority in Europe.
23 member Squad by country distribution of clubs
Algeria: 4 (USM Alger*2, Kabylie, Bejaia)
France: 3 (Dijon, Lyon, Rennes)