The disruption to Liverpool’s season will be kept to a minimum after Mohamed Salah put club before country, according to a report.
Liverpool are no strangers to losing their best attacker for a significant period of time in the middle of the season. AFCON rolls around every two years and the next iteration of the tournament is held between December 21 – January 18.
Salah’s Egypt have qualified for the competition being held in Morocco. The 33-year-old is Egypt’s talisman and greatest ever player and naturally, he’s an automatic selection in the squad.
However, the disruption for Liverpool could extend beyond the boundaries of AFCON if Salah were called up for Egypt’s pre-tournament training camp and warm-up fixture with Nigeria on December 14.
According to The Daily Mail’s Lewis Steele, who is the outlet’s Merseyside correspondent, Salah would miss Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan (December 9) and Premier League clash with Brighton (December 13) if reporting for duty early.
However, Steele stated Salah’s mind is already made up and he would ‘prefer to stay and play those competitive matches for Liverpool.’
That could spark a club vs country row with Egypt boss, Hossam Hassan, though relations between Liverpool and the Egyptian FA are described as ‘amicable’ despite past disagreements.
As such, the expectation is Salah will get his wish and he will remain in Liverpool for the fixtures against Inter and Brighton.
Arsenal clash among games Salah could miss
Assuming Salah is present for the Inter and Brighton games, the winger could miss seven Liverpool matches if Egypt advance all the way to the final.
The competition runs from December 21 to January 18. Liverpool play Tottenham on December 20 – just one day prior to the competition’s opening game – and have five further fixtures pencilled in during the competition’s window.
Furthermore, an FA Cup third round tie will be slotted into the calendar in early-January, which Salah will miss.
The games Salah is expected to be absent for are as follows: Tottenham (away), Wolves (home), Leeds United (home), Fulham (away), Arsenal (away), FA Cup Third Round, Burnley (home).
Of course, Salah would return home early if Egypt do not make it to the final.
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