Salah Liverpool forward left out of Egypt squad for friendly tournament

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been left out of Egypt’s squad for a friendly tournament later this month.

Salah has made just two substitute appearances for the Reds since 1 January – as he suffered a hamstring injury at the Africa Cup of Nations, followed by muscle fatigue.

Liverpool had asked for the 31-year-old to miss the tournament in the UAE.

And although he was initially selected by Egypt, Salah has not been named in their final 25-man squad.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said previously: “Two games with Egypt is really not up to me, it is discussed with other departments.

“We want to be careful, we have to be careful, but we’re in the middle of a super-intense period of the season and we need everyone.”

Egypt agreed to let Salah return to his club for rehabilitation in January, with a view to rejoining their Afcon campaign, but the Pharaohs were knocked out in the last 16.

He scored as a substitute in Liverpool’s win at Brantford on 17 February but Klopp then said the forward needed more time to recover. He returned again during Thursday’s Europa League win at Sparta Prague.

The inaugural Winsunited Cup takes place during the next international break and Egypt will play two games in Abu Dhabi between 22 and 26 March – against New Zealand and then either Croatia or Tunisia.

Despite his recent absences, Salah remains Liverpool’s leading goal scorer this season with 19 in all competitions.