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Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan wants Mohamed Salah to link up with his international teammates earlier than anticipated this winter ahead of AFCON.
Though he will be rested for the second Egypt game of this international break, Salah is set to miss a crucial run of games for Liverpool because of the tournament in Morocco. It is set to run from December 21 to January 18, though Egypt may not go all the way to the final.
Hassan has revealed that discussions are ongoing with Liverpool and Manchester City to determine the status of Salah and Omar Marmoush for a friendly against Nigeria on December 14. "We are still in contact with Liverpool and Manchester City at the moment regarding this matter," he confirmed to WinWin.
Both clubs have Premier League fixtures scheduled for the same weekend — Liverpool against Brighton and Manchester City versus Crystal Palace.
It seems unlikely that Salah and Marmoush would want to miss out on those games. Salah remains an important figure for Arne Slot, while Marmoush has missed much of the season to date through injury.
Salah is likely to miss home Premier League games versus Wolves and Leeds games and visits to Tottenham, Fulham and Arsenal.
That game at the Emirates could still be important in the title race, though the Reds are currently trailing by eight points.
If Egypt goes deep into the tournament, Salah might also end up missing games with Burnley and Marseille. He could have missed a potential Carabao Cup semi-final before Liverpool was knocked out by Crystal Palace.
He would be unlikely to feature in the FA Cup third round, but that falls early in 2026 as well. Missing the Brighton game would make it nine matches in total that Salah could be absent for.
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Jeremie Frimpong was signed in part because of his ability to play on the right wing. He didn't leave much in the way of an impression against Galatasaray earlier this season when he stepped in for Salah, though.
Frimpong has also been sidelined with an injury for much of the season and is still a few weeks away from a return. Federico Chiesa can also play in that position but he has been almost exclusively used off the bench.
By the time Salah departs, it is hoped that Florian Wirtz will be used to the demands of English soccer, and Alexander Isak will be more up to speed too.
Salah leaving for a period is not news to Liverpool and it will have an idea of how to combat it. Even though he hasn't been in the best form so far this season, he will still be a significant miss.
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