Arne Slot faces potential disruption to pre-season plans as big-name player could be missing
Less than 24 hours after being confirmed as Liverpool’s new head coach, Arne Slot could already be facing a potentially significant disruption to his pre-season plans.
The Reds are scheduled to play three friendlies in USA at the end of July and beginning of August, a period which overlaps with the Olympic Games.
Egypt are among the teams participating at the men’s football event in Paris, and their coach Ruggero Micali is determined to call up Mo Salah.
He told WinWin.com: “We are still waiting for the result of communication with Salah and his club through the Egyptian Football Association. We would definitely like him to be with us. I hope Salah can play with us in the Olympics.”
Even though little would be learned from Salah playing in pre-season that we don’t know already, it wouldn’t be ideal for Slot to be deprived of one of his key players for an extended period ahead of his first campaign as Liverpool boss.
Of course, the club v country tug-of-war is nothing new when it comes to our number 11, who’s twice been called away to the Africa Cup of Nations mid-season during his time with the Reds, infamously getting injured while playing at the tournament in January and missing a dozen games for his club as a result.
At least the Olympics will reach a conclusion before the Premier League season starts, which’d lessen the disruption if the winger joins up with his country in Paris over the summer.
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Nonetheless, the anxiety among Liverpool fans if he were to play for Egypt at the Games would be through the roof, for fear that he’d get injured playing in a tournament which, despite its international prestige in an overall sense, is far from a headline act in the football calendar.
One significant factor in the Reds’ favour is that, as the competition is played outside a designated FIFA window, clubs aren’t obliged to release their players for it, so LFC could technically have the final say and insist that Salah remains with his employers rather than going off to play for his nation.
Ultimately, the player’s interests will likely determine whether or not he’s in America or Paris towards the end of July. We’re obviously hoping it’s the former.
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