Liverpool could be without Mo Salah for the start of the new season with Egypt set to name him in their preliminary squad of the Olympic Games in Japan.
The 28 year-old is one of three over-age players named as part of the squad for the African nation with the delayed global sporting showcase taking place between the 23rd of July and 8th of August.
The Mirror says that timeline will see the superstar miss part of the Reds pre-season campaign and at least the opening game of the Premier League season.
The Egyptian Football federation have not contacted Liverpool to this stage but they have due for key talks later this month.
Egypt U/ 23 coach Shawky Gharib confirmed this as well as the selection of Salah in a statement.
“Salah is currently one of the most important players in the world and it’s normal to call him for Egypt’s Olympic squad.
"We will start the official talks with Liverpool after the international break in March."
With the season that Liverpool have had in terms of key absentees, Jurgen Klopp will be hell-bent on starting the new campaign with as strong a team as possible and you can guarantee there will be a fair bit of pushback from the club on these plans.
Regarding the future of Salah at club level, there is often speculation that he may look for a new challenge with Real Madrid often mentioned.
However Klopp knows how pivotal Salah to the fortunes of the squad and remained rock solid in his view that Salah is not going anywhere.
“It's just a bit awkward when I have to praise my own players, which I like to do to be honest, but especially in Mo's case, the numbers speak for themselves.
"Mo is not only a goalscorer, he has developed as a footballer as well.
“He is a very, very important player for us and hopefully he will be that for a very long time of course."
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