Hibernians are expected to be without Rui De Gracia Gomes for a number of weeks after the towering defender was named in the Equatorial Guinea squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
De Gracia Gomes, who also has a Spanish passport, is expected to leave Malta today or tomorrow to join up with his international team-mates ahead of the three-week tournament which gets underway on January 17 and ends on February 8.
For the 29-year-old De Gracia Gomes, this will be his second appearance in the Africa Cup of Nations. In 2012, the Hibs centre-half was also part of the squad of Equatorial Guinea who co-hosted the tournament along with Gabon, making it to the quarter-finals only to be ousted by eventual finalists Ivory Coast 3-0.
Equatorial Guinea have been chosen by the Con-federation of African Football to host the tournament for a second time in three years after original hosts Morocco refused to organise the event due to the Ebola threat.
Equatorial Guinea have been drawn in Group A together with Burkina Faso, Congo and Gabon.
Edison interest
Meanwhile, Hibs striker Luis Edison ‘Tarabai’ is a target for a club in South Korea.
It is understood that the Korean team are preparing to make an offer for the Brazilian hotshot, the Premier League’s leading scorer with 18 goals.