Egypt Push for Early Salah Release Ahead of AFCON

Liverpool may be without Mohamed Salah for even longer than expected as Egypt push to bring their captain in early for a pre-AFCON friendly against Nigeria on December 14. The African Cup of Nations will run from December 21 to January 18, a period that already rules Salah out of six Premier League games, including ties against Tottenham, Wolves, Leeds, Fulham, Arsenal, and Burnley.

This year’s schedule is especially difficult for Liverpool because the tournament falls right in the middle of the busy holiday fixtures, unlike previous editions that started later in January and mainly affected cup matches. Now, Egypt want Salah to report before the tournament for the warm-up match, which is FIFA-sanctioned. If he joins early, he will also miss Liverpool’s December 13 clash with Brighton—taking his total league absences to seven.

Liverpool are reluctant to release him early, especially with their title hopes on the line. However, Egypt remain firm. National team technical director Ibrahim Hassan said they “are still in contact with Liverpool and Manchester City … regarding this matter,” adding that they also want Omar Marmoush available for the friendly. Negotiations remain ongoing as both sides try to find a solution.