Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah is set to represent Egypt in the African Cup of Nations, with the tournament scheduled to start just before Christmas and run until mid-January.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is set to engage in tense negotiations with Egyptian manager Hossam Hassan next week to avoid a club vs. country dispute ahead of the African Cup of Nations.
Egypt is holding a training camp in preparation for the winter tournament, before playing against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on December 6th, Jordan on December 9th and Nigeria on December 14th.
According to WinWin, Egyptian coach Hassan has the right to call up Liverpool’s Salah and Manchester City attacker Omar Marmouche for these three games.
However, Liverpool are playing Leeds United and Brighton in the Premier League and Inter Milan in the Champions League that week and are hoping to have Salah available for those games.
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The Daily Mail reports that Salah wants to remain at Liverpool and play the club’s games before heading off on international duty to Egypt next week.
Salah, 33, is scheduled to face Hassan during the November international break, with Egypt set to play two friendlies against Uzbekistan on November 14th and Algeria on November 17th.
The former Chelsea and Roma man is keen to avoid a spat between the club and his country – two years after Liverpool wrote to Egypt asking for an exemption from international camp to improve his long-term health.
Locals in Egypt’s capital Cairo were furious, insisting it was “their right” to call Salah. However, the national team ultimately accepted Liverpool’s request and Salah remained on Merseyside.
Liverpool and Egypt now need to agree on when Salah will be allowed to leave for the AFCON tournament, which starts on December 21 and runs until January 18 in Morocco.
Assuming Salah gets his wish and leaves after the game against Brighton on December 13, the worst-case scenario for the Reds would be for Salah to miss eight games.
He will miss Premier League games against Tottenham, Wolves, Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal and Burnley, as well as the AFCON final and the Champions League game in Marseille, which will be played four days after the FA Cup third round in early January. If Egypt progress to the last two, Salah could return to Liverpool at Bournemouth on January 24th.
Salah has made 15 appearances for the Reds this season, scoring five goals and providing three assists. He has struggled for form but has found the back of the net in each of his last two Premier League games.
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