When Mohamed Salah will return to Liverpool after reaching AFCON semi-final

Mohamed Salah scored ad Egypt beat Morocco 2-1 to progress, Rahman Osman reports from Cameroon.
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Mohammed Salah is playing the best football of his international career, and that means Liverpool fans will have to wait before he returns to Merseyside.

Salah scored to level up for the Egyptians, after former Southampton man Sofiane Boufal had given Morocco the lead from a penalty spot early on.

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The Egyptian king then danced his way through a sea of Moroccan defenders before finding Aston Villa’s Trézéguet to give Egypt a 2-1 victory that guaranteed progression to the next round.

That means Egypt will now take on hosts Cameroon at the semi-final stage on Thursday for a place in the final of the AFCON.

If Egypt progress to the final, then Salah’s return to Liverpool won’t be until almost mid-February.

Realistically, he would want to go back home with his teammates to Egypt if they win the competition before returning to Liverpool, which means he would be away from club football for almost six weeks.

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That means he would miss Liverpool’s clash against Leicester on February 10 and the match against Burnley on February 13.

In the unfortunate scenario where Egypt leave the competition on Thursday, Salah and his team would still have to painfully stick around to play the third place game on Saturday.

He would then be the on the plane out of Cameroon the next morning, after the third place game.

celebrates next to Sudan's midfielder Mustafa Ahmed Saeed Elfadni and Egypt's forward(Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)celebrates next to Sudan's midfielder Mustafa Ahmed Saeed Elfadni and Egypt's forward(Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)
celebrates next to Sudan's midfielder Mustafa Ahmed Saeed Elfadni and Egypt's forward(Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

How Liverpool have handled his absence

Jurgen Klopp has had to look deep within his squad to make up for the loss of three of his key men, even if he is now making adjustments and has broken the bank for Luis Diaz.

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There had been fears the absence of both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane might have a wrecking effect on Liverpool’s title challenge, but they are closer to leaders Manchester City than they were when Salah and Mane left.

Manchester City being held by Southampton just before the mini-break meant Liverpool’s close win at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace reduced the gap between them to nine points, with the Reds still having a game in hand.

In the cup games, Liverpool saw off the challenge of Arsenal to reach the final of the Carabao Cup and beat Shrewsbury to advance to the next round of the FA Cup.

When all players who have qualified for the semi-final can return to their clubs

The AFCON has a third place game where losers of semi-final games will play, so all the European-based players will not be able to return to their clubs until the end of the tournament.

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Players have often been left questioning the significance of having a third place match, when everyone else just wants to see the final.

Contract talks after AFCON

Salah and his entourage have paused all contract talks with the winger just focusing on the tournament.

The former Basel man had said he is not asking for crazy money, and his manager Jurgen Klopp continues to remain hopeful that a compromise will be made and a deal will be reached.

PSG and Real Madrid are reported to be interested, but there are concerns whether they could afford Salah things with PSG already having Messi, Neymar and doing everything possible to hold on to Mbappe.

There is little doubt that Salah loves Liverpool and his entourage will look to get his contract sorted when the AFCON is over.