Klopp says Premier League leaders yet to be contacted over Salah’s participation in Tokyo 2020. Liverpool needs more information before deciding whether to allow Mohamed Salah to represent Egypt at this summer’s Olympics, says Jurgen Klopp.
Egypt’s Olympic coach, Shawky Gharib, confirmed this week that he will include Salah in his preliminary 50-man squad but also said the final decision regarding participation lies with the player, Liverpool, and Klopp.
If Mohammed Salah were to go to Tokyo 2020 with Egypt, he would face the prospect of missing the start of next season’s Premier League campaign, with the final due to be held on August 8.
Former Borussia Dortmund manager, Jurgen Klopp, has spoken to Salah about the situation but is waiting to be contacted by someone from the Egyptian FA before making a call.
Klopp said ahead of Saturday’s trip to Norwich:
“There has been no decision,”
“Do I want to lose the player in pre-season? Of course not. But we have to consider different things. I speak with Mo and we are completely clear about what we want.
“But we need more information. How would it look? When would the preparation start? All of that stuff and no one has really contacted us yet. We’ve had to play without Mo before.
“Nobody really contacted us so far – it’s just in the media. It’s difficult to get in contact with me through newspapers because most of the things I don’t read.
“No decision has been made yet, but we’ll see.”
“But it is the Olympics, and I’m still a sportsperson and the Olympics are the Olympics.”
“We cannot discuss it really because we don’t know a lot about it, apart from the things the manager of the Olympic team said. They have to contact us and we will see.”
Jurgen Klopp was addressing the media for the first time since another scheduling conflict – namely the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury Town that fell during Liverpool’s scheduled mid-season break.
The manager did not attend the match and left under-23 manager Neil Critchley to helm a youthful line-up that prevailed 1-0 to set up a last-16 clash with Chelsea.
Jurgen Klopp said,
“It was absolutely great. I’m really happy for the boys. They all loved it like crazy, they loved it,”
“It was absolutely sensational what our crowd made of this game. Creating that atmosphere shows what a wonderful club we are.
“For us it was never a standpoint against the FA Cup – I know people probably misunderstand it – but it was just to make sure that, as we decided there is a winter break, there must be a winter break.
“You cannot please everybody in the end, you have to think a little bit more about it. That’s what we tried to infer, to discuss about these things. If you don’t discuss, things just get worse and worse and worse.
“We all love the Premier League, we all love the FA Cup and the League Cup, Champions League, all the games we play. We just have to make sure that the time in between is at least time for a little nap or something.”
The Reds’ manager Jurgen Klopp will welcome back James Milner and Sadio Mane from hamstring injuries for the runaway Premier League leaders’ visit to Carrow Road.
Break over: Time to get straight back on track 💪🏻🔴 #YNWA pic.twitter.com/dVYnNWnm3M
— James Milner (@JamesMilner) February 14, 2020
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