Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has been told that Mohamed Salah will feature for Egypt on international duty if he plays any games for the Reds between now and the break.
The Egyptian FA have called up Mohamed Salah for international duty and will use him if he features at all for Liverpool in the next two weeks.
Mid-March sees a number of the Premier League’s biggest names jet off around the world to represent their national sides while club football is paused for the last time this term. Egypt will take part in the Winsunited Cup, coming up against the likes of Tunisia, Croatia and New Zealand.
Before then, however, Salah’s attentions will be firmly on Thursday night’s Europa League trip to Sparta Prague and Sunday afternoon’s seismic title showdown at home to Manchester City. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp will be desperate to use his talismanic forward, but it may come at a price later down the line.
Salah has played just twice for Liverpool since the start of the year after picking up an injury during the Africa Cup of Nations in January. As he nears his return to full fitness, Egypt are adamant he’ll be used as normal if he is ready to represent his club.
Ehab El-Komy, a member of the Egypt FA, has explained, via KingFut. : “The coaching staff, the Football Association, and the Egyptian fans are all keen on Salah’s safety. If he is not 100% ready, the national team coaching staff will be even more cautious about his presence in the upcoming camp.
“We have two weeks ahead of us and his recovery may be complete. If Mohamed Salah is ready, we will be keen on his presence. Otherwise, a different talk will be held at the appropriate time.
“Even up to the date of the international agenda, if Salah plays in any match with Liverpool, he will be ready and we will call him up to join the Egyptian national team. We want things to be calm, especially since Hossam Hassan wants all players to be present for Egypt’s strong start under his leadership.”
The aforementioned Hassan is the new national team boss after Rui Vitoria was sacked in the aftermath of a disappointing AFCON campaign. Hassan does not boast the best relationship with Salah, after the new manager took aim at the Liverpool star for leaving the Pharaohs’ squad to return to Merseyside for treatment.
In turn, El-Komy has claimed that there has been no dialogue between player and manager. He added: “The Egyptian national team, led by Hossam and Ibrahim Hassan, can’t communicate with Mohamed Salah so far.
“So far, there hasn’t been any meeting between Hossam Hassan and Mohamed Salah, but there is no dispute between the two parties. The Minister of Sports will hold a session between the two parties to create a conducive atmosphere within the team.”
This threat from the Egyptian FA will certainly give Klopp food for thought. Liverpool could certainly do with their leading marksman for the visit of City, but were he to then aggravate the existing injury on international duty, it could rule him out for the rest of the title race.
