Jurgen Klopp hits back after Egypt reject Mohamed Salah request

Jurgen Klopp has responded after being asked if Mohamed Salah will be called up by Egypt if he plays in Liverpool's two games before the international break.

Back in January, Salah suffered a hamstring injury during Egypt’s clash against Ghana in the Africa Cup of Nations, meaning he missed almost a month of action, including last month's Carabao Cup final.

He made his much-anticipated return to action on February 17 as Liverpool moved five points clear at the top of the Premier League with a 4-1 victory at Brentford.

But the 31-year-old has not featured for Liverpool since due to an apparent reoccurrence of the injury. As a result, the Reds requested for Salah to be left out of Egypt’s squad ahead of the international break.

The Pharaohs are set to partake in a friendly tournament in the United Arab Emirates, which will also include the likes of Tunisia, Croatia and New Zealand, but their request has been refused.

A statement from the Egyptian Football Association read: “We have already received a letter from Liverpool to exempt Mohamed Salah from the upcoming camp due to his injury.

“We sent the name of Mohamed Salah among the professional players that we are requesting to include in the next camp a few days ago.”

It continued: “It is our right to include any professional player as long as it is at the time of the international agenda, and the issue of whether or not to include him is in the hands of the national team's technical staff, led by Hossam Hassan.

“It is still too early to decide the matter, and if Mohamed Salah plays any match in the time before the start of the camp, we will adhere to his inclusion, and he will be examined and his readiness determined by the medical staff of the Egyptian national team.”

Two days later, the saga took a fresh twist. According to Ehab El Komy of the Egyptian Football Association, the team have not been able to get in contact with Salah.

He said: “The Egyptian national team, led by Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan, could not communicate with Mohamed Salah so far. There hasn't been any meeting between the technical staff of Egypt and Mohamed Salah yet.”

Image credit: Getty

Now, ahead of Liverpool's Europa League last 16 clash against Sparta Prague, Salah has been included in their 23-man squad.

Jurgen Klopp confirmed the news in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday, saying: "Salah has travelled with us. He's trained for two days and is full of energy, we have to see but it is so good he is back and that is good for us.

"He is so happy and it was an unlikely situation where he had so long out, played an incredible game against Brentford and then was out, that is how it is.

"We want to be careful but this is a super intense period of the season. We want to use him. It's just good news."

When asked about Egypt's call-up, Klopp added: "That will be decided by a different department.

"Let's see how long he can play now. Only two days in team training. After so long out, players are not normally with us but this is the situation. Two games with Egypt? it's not up to me, we're not involved.

"You can discuss in other departments, let me say it like that."