Kicker: Kofane accepted the call-up from Cameroon, the pharmaceutical company may be short of up to 5 players during the African Cup of Nations

November 10th: Bayer Leverkusen forward Christian Kofane was selected into the Cameroon national team's lineup for the November World Cup preliminaries. The German media "Kicker" pointed out that such news is not a good thing for the pharmaceutical company. Now they are facing the situation of missing five players during the African Cup.

In the summer, Leverkusen spent a transfer fee of 5.25 million euros to sign Coffane from the Spanish second division team Albacete. Now the 19-year-old is about to make his debut for the national team. Reports indicate that this is different from his agent's original plan. The fast, physical center already received two invitations to the national team in the summer, but he turned them down both times.

However, he has now been named in Cameroon's squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers, which will take place against the Democratic Republic of Congo on November 13 and, if successful, the winner of the match between Nigeria and Gabon three days later. If Cameroon wins both games, they will advance to the intercontinental play-offs next March.

It should be positive news that this talented young player has grown into a national player so quickly in the club, but this has a hidden danger for Leverkusen: because the African Cup of Nations will be held in Morocco from December 21 to January 18, Kofane may be absent, and the pharmaceutical company may lose another first-team player.

Previously, Kofane's agent had clearly ruled out the possibility of the player playing for Cameroon this year. He explained the reason to "Kicker": The forward should focus on the club, and due to the high load caused by Leverkusen's third-line battle, he can no longer bear additional physical burden in the national team.

Kofane's decision caused an uproar in his home country due to an internal conflict between Cameroon coach Marc Brys and Football Association president Eto'o. But things have clearly changed now.

This also means that in the worst case scenario, Leverkusen will have to be without as many as five professional players during the African Cup of Nations. Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Ben Segil (Morocco) and Maza (Algeria) are all believed to be certain to feature with their national teams at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Nigerian player Nathan Tela is also expected to be called up, and he said on Saturday that he was expected to return soon.

With two long-term injuries already causing strain on the squad - both of whom will be out until January - are Palacios and Ezequiel Fernandez, both of whom will be out until January, Leverkusen and head coach Jurman are now likely to face the next crisis of personnel shortages.