BBC pundit Alan Hutton has claimed that Liverpool will be ‘raging’ after news has emerged that Mohamed Salah has turned down the opportunity of an injury scan whilst away on international duty.
The Lowdown: Salah rejects Liverpool request
It was reported by BBC Sport earlier this week that the 29-year-old had rejected the Reds’ request for him to have tests on a mystery injury before participating in Egypt’s match against Guinea on Sunday.
In a post-match interview, manager Ehab Galal confirmed that the forward did indeed have a problem before the game kicked off, but that he decided to ‘play through it’, rather than getting it checked out by the medical team.
The Latest: Hutton’s ‘angry’ Salah claim
Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton claimed that Liverpool will be far from happy with Salah taking any unnecessary risks ahead of the start of the new season.
“Liverpool will probably be raging. It’s things I’ve seen throughout my own career, this kind of battle between club and country.
“The player wants to play for this country, which is obviously great, but for the club, they obviously pay him the big wages. They expect him to be ready for pre-season and fighting fit.
“If he needed an operation, for talking sake, and he’d miss four, five weeks because of it, you could get that done now. He’d be back in time.
“Hiding the scan results or not showing Liverpool what’s going on, it masks over all that. They’re left in the dark.
“Of course, you’re going to be angry about that. It’s just natural you want your best players fit and ready to go for the start of the new season.
“It’ll be interesting to see what comes out from it. It’s not ideal hiding it from the club.”
The Verdict: Durable as ever
Salah did sustain a groin injury during the FA Cup final against Chelsea which saw him forced off the pitch, but was able to make a return before the conclusion of the season, having featured in the final day Premier League victory against Wolves to then going on to play the full 90 minutes of the Champions League final prior to leaving for international duty.
The 5 foot 9 talisman is an extremely durable player for Jurgen Klopp, having missed just three games through injury in his entire Reds career, so we don’t see this as a major issue.
He currently finds his future at Liverpool very much up in the air as he enters the final 12 months of his contract at Anfield, but if he is to remain on Merseyside, the Reds will expect their star man to be fully fit ahead of the start of the new season, while Egypt’s absence from the World Cup will force him to rest in the usually hectic winter period.
In other news… Liverpool are reportedly in talks with one of their first-team starlets over a possible new deal.
