Following Watford’s game on New Year’s Day, the 25-year-old left to meet up with his DR Congo colleagues in advance of the competition in the Ivory Coast, which gets underway on Saturday (January 13).
Group F matches for DR Congo begin on January 17 against Zambia, and they then play on January 21 and January 24 against Morocco and Tanzania, respectively.
It is known, nevertheless, that Kayembe underwent evaluation by the national team’s medical staff, who found an injury they considered serious enough to withdraw him from the team.
As recently as yesterday, a team photo and video with the DR Congo players in their club uniforms—Kayembe wearing a Watford shirt—appeared on social media.
Following the announcement last night that Omenuke Mfulu, a midfielder for Las Palmas, had been added to the DR Congo team, rumours began to circulate throughout Africa that Kayembe would be departing the camp.
On New Year’s Day, he played the opening forty-five minutes of the 3-3 tie with Plymouth before Yaser Asprilla took his place at halftime.
He played the entire ninety minutes in ten of the fourteen games, starting thirteen of them, including the one against Plymouth.
The midfielder could have returned as early as after the DR Congo team’s last group match on January 24 if he had participated in the AFCON.
He most likely would have been at the tournament until the end of this month, and probably into February, had DR Congo advanced, since up to three teams from each group go to the next round.
This season, Kayembe has made 21 appearances in the Championship, starting 15 of them.
