Striker Wilfried Bony has been included in an Ivory Coast’s 27-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations while influential player Gervinho was dropped.
The Qatar-based striker is returning to the side for the first time since the 2017 edition of the tournament in Gabon as coach Ibrahim Kamara named him in the provisional list.
The 30-year-old, who was released by Swansea City earlier this month, has been called thanks to his form at Al Arabi after scoring five goals in their final seven league matches.
The French league’s second highest scorer Pepe of Lille was also included in the squad as well as Max-Alain Gradel, Aston Villa’s Jonathan Kodjia, Maxwell Cornet and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.
However there is no room for Gervinho in the squad despite his 11 goals and four assists in 30 Serie A league games for Parma last season.
The Elephants will play two friendlies against Comoros and Uganda on 7 June and 15 June respectively.
Ivory Coast will name their final squad on 9 June before travelling travelling to Egypt to the tournament where they face o take on South Africa, Morocco and Namibia in Group D.
Ivory Coast provisional squad:
Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Abdoul Cisse (Asec Mimosas), Ali Badra (Free State Stars, South Africa), Tape Ira (FC San Pedro).
Defenders: Serge Aurier (Tottenham Hotspur, England), Wilfried Kanon (ADO Den Haag, Netherlands), Wonlo Coulibaly (Asec Mimosas), Abdoulaye Bamba (Angers, France), Simon Deli (Slavia Prague, Czech Republic), Ismael Traore (Angers, France), Mamadou Bagayoko (Red Star, France), Cheikh Comara (Wydad Casablanca, Morocco)
Midfielders: Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Mainz, Germany), Serey Die (Neuchâtel Xamax, Switzerland), Jean-Michael Seri (Fulham, England), Victorian Angban (Metz, France), Franck Kessie (AC Milan, Italy) , Ibrahim Sangare (Toulouse, France), Ismael Diomande (Caen, France)
Forwards: Max-Alain Gradel (Toulouse, France), Nicolas Pepe (Lille, France), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, England), Jonathan Kodjia (Aston Villa, England), Roger Assale (Young Boys Bern, Switzerland), Maxwel Cornet (Lyon, France), Yohan Boli (Sint-Truiden, Belgium), Wilfried Bony (unattached)
Source: Starr Sports
