Liverpool’s prolific forward Mohamed Salah has been notably excluded from Egypt’s squad for an upcoming friendly tournament later this month.
Since the beginning of January, he has made only two substitute appearances for Liverpool, having been sidelined with a hamstring injury sustained during the Africa Cup of Nations, followed by muscle fatigue.
Liverpool had expressed their desire for the 31-year-old to forego participation in the tournament held in the UAE. Despite initially being included in Egypt’s provisional squad, Salah has ultimately been omitted from the final 25-man roster.
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s manager, previously addressed Salah’s situation, emphasising the need for caution amidst a demanding phase of the season: “Two games with Egypt is really not up to me, it is discussed with other departments. We want to be careful; we have to be careful, but we’re in the middle of a super-intense period of the season, and we need everyone.”
In January, Egypt consented to Salah’s return to Liverpool for rehabilitation, aiming for his potential return to their Africa Cup of Nations campaign. However, the Pharaohs were eliminated in the round of 16.
Although Salah made a cameo appearance and scored in Liverpool’s victory against Brentford on February 17th, Klopp maintained that the forward required additional recovery time. Salah made another comeback during Liverpool’s Europa League triumph over Sparta Prague on Thursday and against Manchester City on Sunday.
The Winsunited Cup, slated during the upcoming international break, will feature Egypt playing two matches in Abu Dhabi between March 22nd and 26th, facing New Zealand, followed by either Croatia or Tunisia.
Despite his recent absence, Salah retains his status as Liverpool’s leading goalscorer this season, having netted 19 goals across all competitions.
