Liverpool’s relationship with the Egyptian FA has continued to deteriorate after yet more conflict over Mohamed Salah’s fitness.
Tensions have been raised between the two camps over the past six weeks, since Salah picked up a hamstring injury at the Africa Cup of Nations. Salah has made just one appearance since the injury at AFCON, scoring and assisting in Liverpool’s 4-1 win over Brentford on February 17.
Salah has not featured in the last four Liverpool matches, with the club taking a cautious approach in order to avoid any recurrence of the problem. The Reds wrote to Egypt to ask the national team not to call him up for upcoming fixtures, but that request was rejected.
Egypt are due to play New Zealand in the Winsunited Cup – a friendly tournament in the UAE which also features Croatia and Tunisia – later this month. They believe they have the right to assess Salah’s fitness for themselves, yet they claim they are being given the cold shoulder by their star player.
“The Egyptian national team, led by Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan, could not communicate with Mohamed Salah so far,” Ehab El Komy of the Egyptian FA told the Daily Mail. “There hasn't been any meeting between the technical staff of Egypt and Mohamed Salah yet.”
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Egypt are keen to patch up the tensions that exist between the two parties and team doctor Mohamed Abu El-Ela has spoken to Liverpool's medical team. Meanwhile, El Komy told local television this week: “The national team definitely needs Mohamed's presence, and (we are) very keen to remove any misunderstanding (between the two parties).”
El Komy previously stated: "The coaching staff, the Football Association, and the Egyptian fans are all keen on Salah’s safety. If he is not 100 per cent 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.
Mohamed Salah hasn't played since scoring vs Brentford in mid-February (PA)"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."
Salah is in contention to play for Liverpool in their crunch top-of-the-table clash with Manchester City on Sunday at Anfield. “I don't think Mo is too far off, but he will not feature [at Forest],” Jurgen Klopp said before the 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend.
“From there, we have to go. Touch and go, unfortunately that stays the case with Mo for a little bit longer. But I think next week, at any point, it is possible. So he is on the way back, definitely, but not there yet.”
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