Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah will have an important meeting with Egyptian head coach Hossam Hassan next week, in an effort to avoid repeating the controversy between the club and the national team ahead of the AFCON.
The Egyptian team will hold a training camp ahead of the African Football Cup, with three important friendly matches against the UAE on December 6, Jordan on December 9 and Nigeria on December 14, to complete preparations for the tournament.
According to Egyptian media, coach Hossam Hassan has full authority to call up Salah (Liverpool) and Omar Marmoush (Manchester City) for the upcoming 3 friendly matches.
However, Liverpool will face Leeds United and Brighton in the Premier League, as well as Inter Milan in the Champions League in the same week, and they want Salah to feature in all three of these important matches.
According to British media, Salah also wants to stay and play for Liverpool in official matches before leaving for the Egyptian team next week.
The 33-year-old is expected to face Hossam Hassan during the November international break, when Egypt will face Uzbekistan on 14 and Algeria on 17 in two friendly matches.
The former Chelsea and AS Roma player wants to avoid repeating the controversy between the club and the national team - 2 years after Liverpool sent a letter to the Egyptian Football Federation asking Salah to be exempted from participating in the international training camp to ensure long-term health.
At that time, fans in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, were extremely angry, affirming that they had the right to call up their number one star. However, this team eventually still accepted the request from The Kop, and Salah stayed on Merseyside.
Currently, Liverpool and the Egyptian Football Federation need to reach an agreement on when Salah will be allowed to leave the team to participate in the upcoming AFCON Football Cup, scheduled to start from December 21 to January 18 in Morocco.
If Salah's wishes are accepted and he only leaves after the match against Brighton on December 13, the worst scenario for The Kop is that the Egyptian star could be absent for 8 matches.
Specifically, Salah will miss Premier League games against Tottenham, Wolves, Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal and Burnley, along with the Champions League match against Marseille and the third round of the FA Cup in early January. If Egypt goes deep into the semi-finals, Salah could only return to Liverpool in the away match against Bournemouth on January 24.
Salah has scored five goals and provided three assists in 15 appearances for Liverpool this season. Despite his unstable form, the Egyptian star has maintained his goal-scoring instinct, scoring in both of his last two Premier League games.
"Scoring for such a big club is a great feeling, that is something I don't consider obvious. I am very proud and happy about this achievement" - Salah shared after the win over Aston Villa.
