Mo Salah keen on representing Egypt in AFCON and Olympics in 2021

Liverpool have a dilemma on their hands concerning star forward Mohamed Salah. The 27-year-old is desperate to represent Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations and the Olympic Games in 2021 according to compatriot Mido. This could leave the Reds without him for close to three months next season (h/t Mirror).

The Africa Cup of Nations is back to its winter schedule after having been moved to the summer in 2019. The competition is scheduled to take place between January 9 and February 6 next year.

The Olympics were scheduled to take place in Tokyo this summer. But due to the coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the world, the event has been postponed to next year. While it will majorly be played by U-23 players, Salah is keen on being involved as one of the players over 23 in the squad (h/t Mirror).

Speaking to The Sun, Salah’s compatriot Mido said:

“Salah must go with Egypt to AFCON — and  Liverpool  don’t have the right to say no. These are Fifa rules and they can’t prevent Salah from joining the national team for any reason. If Salah doesn’t want to go, then this is the only reason for not seeing him.

“He will be one of the most important players in the tournament, not only for Egypt. We now know the Olympics will be held in the summer of 2021.

“So hopefully things will go normally and the season will be finished by then and he will have the chance to play with the Olympic team.”

Mido further added that the situation was much more feasible two years ago when the tournament was held in the summer. However, with the AFCON returning to its winter schedule, players could face problems from their clubs (h/t Mirror).

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This certainly puts Liverpool in a difficult position. Salah has been one of our best players since arriving from AS Roma in 2017. The 27-year-old has been in fine form this season too, having already netted 20 goals and set up 9 in 40 matches across all competitions.

Losing him for an extended period next season will surely come as a blow for our team, especially considering that we don’t have a quality backup to fill in for him. Hopefully, the club are working on adding more depth to the squad in the summer transfer window.