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Barcelona's Ez Abde is set to refuse a call up to the Morocco national team for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The rearranged tournament gets under way in host nation Cameroon on 9 January and lasts until 6 February, with Algeria the reigning champions after their triumph in 2019.
A host of world-class players are set to be unavailable for their clubs due to their international commitments, including the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Wilfried Zaha.
But at Barca, 20-year-old winger Abde is reportedly not interested in going to the tournament.
According to Spanish journalist Gerard Romero, the player's representatives are negotiating with Morocco to prevent him from representing his country despite him being included in the squad.
The former Hercules man has broke into the Barca first-team this term, making eight appearances and scoring once.
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And with things going well for him at the Blaugrana so far, he doesn't want to impact that and instead is focusing on his club career for now.
He signed with Barca B in the summer but ended up being fast-tracked and making his professional debut in October.
The youngster has not yet been capped for Morocco but played for the Under 20 team at the 2020 Arab Cup U-20 last year, scoring twice.
Abde scored his first goal for Barca this month and immediately ran over to Xavi and the coaching staff.
And the Barca boss waxed lyrical about he and fellow youngsters Nico Gonzalez and Gavi.
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"Abde’s game is spectacular, and also Nico and Gavi’s," Xavi said.
"Abde is a differential player. He can make a difference, it is not because of the goal. He is a dagger. A marvel. It is a surprise. It is great news. They are making the difference in a tremendous way. But we all have to demand more from each other.”
Featured Image Credit: Image: PATopics: Barcelona, Africa Cup Of Nations
