Egypt coach Shawky Gharieb has claimed that Mo Salah wishes to join the Egyptian national side for the Olympic football tournament, as reported by AFP (via SuperSport).
With the fixtures set to take place from 21st July-7th August, the 28-year-old would miss pre-season for Liverpool, not to mention only having potentially 7 days rest before Premier League football resumes.
“I have made it public that I’d like to have him on board in our Olympic campaign and he hasn’t refused, which means he also wants to play with us,” the coach said. “Salah’s participation in the Olympics is endorsed by the state, represented by the Sports Ministry and the Egyptian Football Association, in our concerted effort to garner an Olympic medal in football for the first time.”
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Where would this leave Liverpool?
With players struggling to cope with the demands of a congested season, this latest update from Gharieb, if accurate, will cause some annoyance in the Liverpool camp.
That’s not to say we wouldn’t support Salah’s wishes if he truly does want to join up with the national side, however, it would throw something of a spanner in the works with the club’s pre-season plans.
The No.11 is, of course, one of those talents you could quite probably just slot back in the side without a pre-season, though we’d expect Jurgen Klopp to hand the forward some rest prior to the season restart, which may affect our opening league fixtures.
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