Egypt make firm statement following Liverpool's Mohamed Salah request

The Egyptian FA have rejected Liverpool's request for Mohamed Salah to be rested for the nation's fixtures during the March international break.

Mohamed Salah picked up a hamstring injury with Egypt during an unsuccessful Africa Cup of Nations campaign at the start of the year, only returning to the Liverpool team during a 4-1 win over Brentford in mid-February.

Despite scoring and assisting at the Gtech Community Stadium, the 31-year-old has been absent ever since after aggravating his existing fitness issue.

As a result, Liverpool have requested that Salah be excluded from the Egypt squad for the March international break.

However, the Egyptian FA have dismissed the Reds' request, insisting that Salah will be called up to international duty if deemed fit by the country's medical staff.

"We have already received a letter from Liverpool to exempt Mohamed Salah from the upcoming camp due to his injury," read a statement from Egypt.

"We sent the name of Mohamed Salah among the professional players that we are requesting to include in the next camp a few days ago.

"It is our right to include any professional player as long as it is at the time of the international agenda, and the issue of whether or not to include him is in the hands of the national team's technical staff, led by Hossam Hassan.

"It is still too early to decide the matter, and if Mohamed Salah plays any match in the time before the start of the camp, we will adhere to his inclusion, and he will be examined and his readiness determined by the medical staff of the Egyptian national team."

Salah missed Liverpool's 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at the weekend due to his nagging injury, but Jurgen Klopp suggested that the winger could return to training this coming week ahead of a crunch clash with Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday.

"I think next week, at any point, it is possible. So he is on the way back, definitely, but not there yet," said the German prior to the Forest game, hinting that Salah could make his comeback against the reigning champions.

If Liverpool's talisman does feature against Man City, he will undoubtedly be called up by Egypt ahead of the first ever Winsunited Cup -  a new tournament that also contains Croatia, Tunisia and New Zealand.

That inevitably offers a greater possibility that Salah will injure himself once again with the national team, something that could derail Liverpool's campaign as the season draws to a close.