Players heading off to the Africa Cup of Nations should depart with the blessing of their respective clubs, according to Everton manager David Moyes, but his viewpoint might not be shared by rivals who face weeks without some of their top names.
The majority of Premier League clubs will be impacted in some way by the 24-nation tournament that kicks off in Morocco on 21 December and concludes on 18 January.
With no mid-season break in the Premier League, six rounds of fixtures are scheduled during Afcon as well as the FA Cup third round and League Cup quarterfinals.
Promoted Sunderland, who have defied expectations to stay in the top half of the Premier League table, could be the worst affected with six players going to the tournament, while the likes of Fulham, Manchester United, Burnley and Crystal Palace will also have to make do without some key personnel.
Moyes will lose Senegal duo Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye as they head off after their clash at Chelsea on Saturday.
"This is their last week, as is the case with many other football clubs, and we have to completely respect the tournament," Moyes told reporters.
"The players have to go and play for their countries, and rightly so. It is a great thing that they have been selected for their countries. We wish them well."
MAN UNITED WAIT ON TRIO
Manchester United are still sweating on the availability of Cameroon's Bryan Mbeumo, Morocco's Noussair Mazraoui and Ivory Coast's Amad Diallo for Monday's Premier League game at home to Bournemouth as that is the day players are supposed to report for international duty.
-- NIGERIA ONLY --
"I don't know if it's going to be the same situation (when each player goes to Afcon)," manager Ruben Amorim said on Friday. "Every national team has their ideas about when they want the players.
"I expect today or maybe tomorrow to have a decision, but we are waiting until the last moment to choose the best team."
More than 40 England-based players are set to be at the Africa Cup of Nations, including Fulham's influential Nigerian trio Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey and Samuel Chukwueze.
"We knew it was going to happen. We will not panic about its impact. We are talking about three starting players," Fulham manager Marco Silva said.
Sunderland's squad depth will be fully tested as they will lose Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso), Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki (DR Congo), Reinildo (Mozambique) and Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco).
Senegal's Habib Diarra could also go despite not having played since September because of injury.
"The decision is with the national team - if they want to select the player, they can - it's not our decision," manager Regis Le Bris said ahead of the eagerly-awaited Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle United this weekend.
While leaders Arsenal have no such concerns with none of their squad departing for Morocco, the same cannot be said of the clubs scrapping down the bottom.
Bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers have Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast) and Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe) involved, second-from-bottom Burnley will say goodbye to Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo), Lyle Foster (South Africa) and Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia), while 18th-placed West Ham United will have to make do without full-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo) and El Hadji Malick Diouf (Senegal).
One inadvertent consequence of the AFCON could be to quieten the storm around Liverpool's talisman, Mohamed Salah, who will head off for national duty with Egypt.