Mohamed Salah has promised to do everything within his capacity to return to the Africa Cup of Nations after Jurgen Klopp angered Egypt fans.
Salah has flown back to Liverpool to undergo rehabilitation for a hamstring injury picked up in Egypt’s second AFCON match against Ghana last week.
Liverpool and Egypt have tried to remain on the same page over the plan to nurse Salah back to full fitness, but cracks have been clear in the communication.
Egypt boss Rui Vitoria was unhappy with Klopp and Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas Issa for causing alarm about the situation by speaking about the extent of the injury.
Salah has also been accused of deserting the side by Egypt legend Ahmed Hassan, who believes he should have stayed in the Ivory Coast to support them.
Egypt scraped through to the knockout stages after drawing all three of their group games 2-2 and may not get Salah’s services again in the tournament, unless they reach the final on February 11.
The Liverpool forward is remaining optimistic about his physical state and also sent a subtle message to those who have questioned his loyalty to his country.
In a Twitter/X post translated from Arabic to English, Salah wrote:
“Yesterday I started the treatment and rehabilitation program and I will do everything possible to be ready as soon as possible and return to the national team as was agreed upon from the beginning… I also love it and its people… try harder.”
Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s FA Cup fourth-round tie against Norwich, Klopp tried to calm the situation.
He said:
“We have the exact same target as Egypt. Make Mo as fit as quickly as possible. When a player is injured, we help them. All parties agreed that it makes sense he does the rehab here. We have a season to play so want him fit.
“But if he’s fit earlier and Egypt are still in the tournament, he will go back. We don’t discuss the rest, what others are saying. We all have to be sensible. If I said something too early, then I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentionally the wrong thing. I didn’t know the situation in that moment.”
Hassan had previously slammed Salah’s decision to head to Merseyside for medical treatment. He said:
“I’ve always backed Salah and I was very happy with his presence as captain of the Egyptian national team. I had no problems with what he said, but it turned out that he was plotting his departure from the Egypt camp.”
He added:
“He is the captain. He should stay with the team no matter what, even if he only had one leg to stand on. He even said himself that it’s the Egyptian national team, not Salah’s national team, and this is true. We have confidence in all the players who are there and they must fight for the title.”
