Liverpool And Egypt Agree Mo Salah To Report Late For The 2021 AFCON Tournament

Liverpool's star Mohamed Salah has been granted permission by the Egyptian FA to report late for AFCON.

The Reds were granted permission to delay Mo Salah’s release until after the game against Chelsea in early January before linking up with his national team-mates for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon.

According to Egyptian journalist Ismael Mahmoud who recently shared an update on the state of AFCON on (if it should hold, or be postponed);

"Exclusive: Liverpool has received the approval from Egypt National team, Mo Salah will play against Chelsea, then travel to play AFCON"... he tweeted.

Liverpool are set to play Chelsea in a pivotal  Premier League game on Sunday January 2nd at Stamford Bridge, as both side remain strong contenders for the title this season alongside Man City. 

Both teams had met late in August at Anfield, with the encounter ending in a 1-1 draw.

Mo Salah is currently the player with the most goals scored and assist maker in the league so far this season with 15 goals, 9 assists in 18 games.

Egypt’s coach Carlos Queiroz on Tuesday announced a provisional 40-man squad which includes Mo Salah, as The Pharaohs start their preparations for the impending 2021 AFCON tournament.

The Portuguese coach also added some eight notable abroad based players to the list after missing the Qatar based tournament that saw Egypt finish in the fourth place.

Aston Villa's winger Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan who returns after almost a full year away with knee injury was also one of the abroad based players added to the provisional list.

Egypt will start the preparatory camp on 27 December 2021, as the Seven times’ African champions are grouped alongside Nigeria, Sudan and Guinea Bissau in Group D.

The 2021 AFCON tournament begins on Sunday January 9, 2022, with the opening fixture between host nation Cameroon vs Burkina Faso. 

Egypt are set to kick-start their campaign against three time champions Nigeria (Super Eagles) at the Stade Ominisport in Garoua on Tuesday January 11.

The AFCON tournament concludes with the final on February 6.

Liverpool will be without their African trio of Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita at the start of 2022.

Keita has already been called up to Guinea's national team, and Mane has also been included in the Senegalese squad for the tournment, meaning they with Salah will certainly be unavailable for a number of Reds games in January.

The trio are set to miss league action against Brentford (h) and Crystal Palace (a) in January, plus an FA Cup tie at home to Shrewsbury and the League Cup home and away games against Arsenal.