Jurgen Klopp has revealed he is planning talks with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah over his chance to play for Egypt in the Olympics next year.
The Reds’ boss admitted he was keen to get an answer from his attacker, who has yet to make a decision on whether he will make himself available for the Africans.
Klopp wasn’t sure whether Salah would even be selected for the tournament, with Egypt only allowed to select three players over the age of 23.
“I have no idea [what will happen],” he said, as quoted by the Express.
“There are some problems I know in the future, this I know from an hour ago that Egypt have qualified for the Olympics.
“I have to speak to Mo. I don’t know if I do it today, or whenever.”
It was reported by the Daily Mail that Salah could miss the opening two weeks of next season if he was eventually called up to the Egypt squad.
OPINIONÂ
No wonder that Klopp would like to sit down and have talks with Salah over the possibility of him missing games next season. The German will not want one of his star players to miss any games, and although he won’t want to stand his way, he will argue his case as to why he should remain at Anfield. Should it have been Egypt’s full-strength side that were allowed to compete in the Olympics, it would have been a no brainer for Salah, but the fact that only three senior players can feature means that he would be missing the Premier League to play with his countries under-23s – not exactly having the same magnitude in terms of competition. Should Liverpool win the Premier League this season, the chance to play at Anfield on the opening day of their first-ever title defence could be magnificent, and Klopp will have to persuade his star man that it is better to stay with his club rather than represent his country.
