Egypt’s manager claims he won’t call up Salah without Liverpool approval
In an interview with MBC Maser (h/t Daily Mail), Egypt head coach for the 2022 Tokyo Olympics divulged that Mohamed Salah won’t be called up next summer without permission from his club Liverpool.
The football competition will be an Under-23 tournament but Egypt would be hoping to include Mohamed Salah as one of their nominated over-age players. (h/t Daily Mail)
Egypt’s U-23 manager Shawky Gharib, who will manage Egypt’s team in the 2021 Olympics, admitted in the interview that the start of the Olympics just days before the inauguration of the 2021/22 Premier League season would mean that Liverpool will have the final say on Salah’s participation in Tokyo next summer.
“We will speak with Liverpool in March. We haven’t discussed the issue (a potential call up for the Olympic Games) with the player yet.”
Liverpool went through an exasperating international break which saw a handful of their important players sidelined due to injury, including Mohamed Salah who tested positive for the coronavirus while on international duty with Egypt.
Keeping this in mind, Gharib cited the AFCON in January 2022 and the start of the 2021/21 Premer League season as the reasons why Liverpool would have the final say in Salah taking part in the Olympics.
“The problem is that the AFCON will be played a few months after the Olympics, but the latter will end and the Premier League will start three days after. But we can’t call up Salah unless Liverpool approve.”
Manager Jurgen Klopp spoke earlier in February about not wanting to be without Salah in the pre-season next year but assured that their stance on the Egyptian is not unshakeable.
“Do I want to lose a player in the pre-season? No. Of course not. But we have to consider different things. I will speak with Mo and all that stuff. But come on, it’s the Olympic Games, I’m still a sports person, the Olympics is the Olympics, but we have to see.”
Mohamed Salah will be vital for us next season as much as he has been in every season since he joined. The club keeping hold of him will of course be beneficial for us. But it’s not wise to negate Salah’s wishes, who may want to represent his country on the grand stage in Japan.
