LIVERPOOL’S SALAH INJURY ‘WORSE THAN FIRST FEARED’ AS EGYPT COACH CRITICISES KLOPP
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Liverpool says Mohamed Salah’s injury is “worse than first feared” and, according to his agent, could keep the forward out of action for nearly a month.
Salah was initially ruled out for just two games by Egypt after sustaining the muscle injury in their 2-2 draw with Ghana last Thursday at the Africa Cup of Nations.
But Salah will now return to Liverpool on Wednesday to begin an “intensive rehabilitation programme” after an agreement was reached between the Premier League club and the Egyptian FA.
However, it appears Salah is set to spend several weeks on the sidelines, according to his agent Ramy Abbas. He wrote on X: “Mohamed’s injury is more serious than first thought and he will be out for 21-28 days, and not two games.
“His best chance at participating in the current AFCON is by undergoing intensive rehabilitation in the UK and rejoining the team as soon as he is fit.”
Salah was in the stands to watch Egypt scrape into the last 16 of the tournament after a 2-2 draw with Cape Verde.
The club did not give a timescale on Salah’s return to action but said his return to Liverpool for treatment will give him the best chance possible to return for the latter stages of the AFCON should Egypt make further progress.
‘I didn’t think it was right’ – Egypt boss criticises Klopp
Speaking after Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday, which moved them five points clear at the top of the Premier League, manager Jurgen Klopp said “it makes sense” for Salah to complete his rehab with “our people”.
But Klopp’s comments irritated Egypt boss Rui Vitoria, who criticised the German for discussing Salah’s fitness before Monday’s AFCON match with Cape Verde.
“I want to take this opportunity to clarify things,” Vitoria said at his post-match press conference.
“Mohamed Salah has an injury, which we learned before this game was a longer-term injury than we first thought, so we have had to prolong the amount of time before he can play again.
“Before the game we did not want to say anything, Meanwhile, everything was in the control of our excellent medical team.
“Given we were going to have to travel, given the temperatures, given that we were going to be going to a different city, maybe it makes sense that Salah should have a place he can go to recover as quickly as possible.
“We didn’t want to alarm anyone. I didn’t think it was right for Liverpool, via any intermediary, to speak about this, because we had a tremendously important game.
“Salah has always been with us. Now this game is over we will find the best solution for the treatment of the player. These are the facts. This is the situation.”
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