Africa Cup of Nations 2019: The Bundesliga connection

Despite his tender age of 20, Hakimi was a permanent fixture at Borussia Dortmund when fit. Following a foot injury in April, the Real Madrid loanee's participation at AFCON was in doubt, but Africa’s Young Player of the Year has since been given the all clear to represent Morocco.

The Borussia Mönchengladbach man made just 11 Bundesliga appearances this season, in part due to undergoing groin surgery. The 31-year-old forward, who will captain Guinea, told Rheinische Post that he’s 100 percent fit, and that he intends to lead his national team to the last 16 at the very least.

Sane's performances were one of the few bright spots in a dismal campaign for Schalke as he became a focal figure in the Royal Blues' backline in his debut season. The defender featured in almost every game for the Gelsenkirchen side, but will be hoping for fairer fortunes when he takes to the pitch with Senegal.

While he's known in Bundesliga circles as Kasim Adams, he went by Kasim Nuhu during his time in Switzerland where he played for Young Boys Bern, collecting a title-winners medal in 2018 before moving to Hoffenheim. An injury in the early stages of the season proved a tough setback to recover from, resulting in Adams making just 13 Bundesliga appearances.

The 21-year-old is one of several players to have swapped Red Bull Salzburg for RB Leipzig after making the move in January. After arriving in Austria in 2016, the dynamic midfielder went on to win the UEFA Youth League with Salzburg's Under-19s in 2017, which was the same year he made his debut for Mali.

The midfielder will see the Africa Cup of Nations as an opportunity to put himself in the shop window. It's no secret that Gbamin is looking to leave Mainz this summer, with the Premier League seemingly his preferred destination. He has said, however, that he could see himself playing for "Leverkusen or Dortmund."

The Stuttgart forward moved to Switzerland as a refugee in 2009 and, at one point, even considered choosing to represent his adopted home instead of DR Congo at international level. In 2018-19, Akolo made 16 Bundesliga appearances, but failed to get his name on the scoresheet as Stuttgart got relegated.

Falette was born in France, but he is also a Guinean national. He’s been playing for Eintracht Frankfurt since 2017, going on to make 29 appearances in the 17-18 season. Last season he dropped down the pecking order, but did feature in seven of Frankfurt's 14 Europa League game.

It may not be the Bundesliga, but Cebio Soukou spent the 18-19 season playing for Hansa Rostock from Germany’s third division. The striker made his international debut for Benin just a few months ago. He is to move to second-division side Arminia Bielefeld after the AFCON.

Also hailing from Germany's third tier is Manfred Starke, who has been on FC Carl-Zeiss Jena's books since 2015. Starke, who also has German citizenship, joined Hansa Rostock's youth program in 2013 after moving from the Namibian capital of Windhoek. A left midfielder by trade, Starke is also capable of playing on the left side of a back four or in central midfield.

Tisserand grew up in France, but decided to represent Congo in 2013. The versatile defender moved to Germany in 2016, when he joined Ingolstadt. After being relegated with Die Schanzer, he took his talents to Wolfsburg a year later and next season is due to feature in the UEFA Europa League with the Wolves.

Despite receiving his footballing education while on the books at Atletico Madrid, Kunde Malong never made the breakthrough in the Spanish capital. After making the step up as a first-team regular during loans with Extremadura UD and Granada, the 23-year-old moved to Mainz where his bullish qualities in midfield quickly saw him establish himself as a first-team regular.

Shortly after his 18th birthday Collins moved from Nigeria to Croatia in order to join HNK Rijeka. After a tough time with Rijeka, which saw him loaned out to various Croatian clubs, Collins joined Paderborn in 2017. The left back has since earned back-to-back promotions with the minnows, who will be back in the Bundesliga next season.

Collins won't be the only Paderborn representative in Egypt with Dräger called up by Tunisia. Born in Freiburg it was with SC Freiburg where Dräger came through the youth ranks before making his debut for the club in July of 2017 in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against NK Domzale. In order to get more regular game time, Dräger was loaned out to Paderborn in 2018.