Mohamed Salah has risked escalated a bizarre club versus country row over his fitness after returning to training with Liverpool. The Liverpool talisman was seen in traning with the Reds ahead of their Europa League last-16 tie with Sparta Prague on Thursday. Salah’s return to training came hours after the Egyptian FA complained they have been unable to communicate with the injured forward.
Egypt rejected that request and called up the player, insisting it was their right to assess Salah’s fitness themselves. The forward has played just once for Liverpool since sustaining an injury in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage. Liverpool wrote directly to Egypt at the end of last week asking the national team to exempt their star man and captain from an upcoming camp in Abu Dhabi, where the Pharaohs are set to face New Zealand in a friendly tournament.
National chiefs wanted Egyptian doctor Mohamed Abu El-Ela to run his own assessment of Salah before making any decisions on his involvement in the upcoming international camp. The Egyptian FA have said that they would ‘adhere to his inclusion’ if he played any minutes for Liverpool before then. Salah’s return to training comes ahead of Liverpool’s crunch match against Manchester City in the Premier League title race on Sunday.
Egypt rejected Liverpool’s request and included Salah in the squad anyway, effectively saying they would make their own mind up on his fitness. However, a member of the Egyptian FA board has said they have been unable to communicate with Salah.
Salah has not featured for Liverpool since playing half of the win over Brentford in mid-February. Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has expressed hope Salah could be involved against Man City. Egypt are understood to be very keen to patch up relations with Liverpool after the two parties also clashed when Salah left the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early to undergo rehab on Merseyside.
These arguments were put across to Egypt’s FA in a letter which asked the nation to prioritise Salah’s long-term health instead of risking his fitness at the friendly tournament later this month where they will play New Zealand. Croatia and Tunisia are also present at the competition.
