Mohamed Salah is set to return back to Liverpool for treatment on his newly acquired Hamstring injury. The Egyptian forward picked up an injury in the 2-2 draw against Ghana, and is only permitted to return to his club for rehabilitation after completing the group stages with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations.
The Egypt Football Association (EFA) confirmed he will move to Merseyside to continue his treatment at his club as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had affirmed earlier on Sunday following their 4-0 trashing win at Bournemouth.
Egypt are hopeful that Salah can still be involved in the competition, however.
“We are hoping to catch him in the semifinals of the Africa Nations Cup in case of qualification,” the EFA statement.
Salah sustained the injury on Thursday against Ghana, and there is now no estimated time of recovery. On Saturday Salah addressed the media but avoided discussing the seriousness of the injury.
On Sunday, Klopp had stated that he expects Salah to return to Liverpool to complete his rehabilitation, or at the very least, to work alongside with the medical team.
“That’s the plan, However long he is out, it probably makes sense for everybody to [rehab] with us [in Liverpool] or with our people. That’s the plan. If that’s written in stone already, I don’t know”, Klopp said.
The Liverpool medical staff has been in communication with Klopp ever since he mentioned he spoke with Salah the night of the injury. Also, Salah might still be able to represent Egypt at the AFCON if he recovers swiftly, according to Klopp.
“I’m not a doctor I would say if Egypt qualifies for the final then probably yes. Ivory Coast, I’m sure it’s a wonderful country, but we have no people from us there. They have people who have to take care of the players who are playing.” He said.
Salah also said: “I am happy to be here, my injury is still there but the most important thing is to speak about the game. We have great players, a great team and we just need to fight and see what is going to happen.”
Liverpool easily defeated Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday to extend their cushion at the top of the Premier League to five points despite Salah’s absence. After both Darwin Núñez and Diogo Jota scored twice in the second half, Klopp was thrilled with their efforts.
Following a tight first half, Klopp made a change of direction at halftime, playing Jota through the middle and Núñez on the left.
“In the moment we find rhythm we are strong,” Klopp said. “We should start the games better but it’s about 98 minutes, it’s about winning the games in the end. As long as you stay in the game… today step by step we found a way and we won.”
Even though the forwards scored the game-winning goals, Klopp was pleased with Alexis Mac Allister’s composed performance at the centre of Liverpool’s midfield.
“Absolutely exceptional performance, I’m so happy for us but for him as well. He’s a really good footballer and defensively did a job and offensively he’s a super important player for us. He’s calm on the ball and the good things in the first half were him,” Klopp said.
Conor Bradley’s debut in the Premier League at right-back impressed the manager as well.
“Pretty good, really good, very impressive,” Klopp said. “Wonderful kid, really hard worker and a good footballer. It was a good game.”
