Liverpool’s English coach, Jurgen Klopp, commented on the absence of the team’s star, Mohamed Salah, who will leave to participate in the African Cup of Nations with the Egypt national team.
Liverpool’s match against Newcastle United, on Monday, will be the Egyptian star’s last before leaving to represent the “Pharaohs” team in the African Cup.
The British newspaper “The Guardian” quoted Klopp as saying: “It is a really normal situation to lose your top scorer, but it was worse in the past when Sadio Mane and Salah left, and we got over it somehow.”
He added: “At least one of them went too far in the tournament, which made it worse. So we have to get past this.”
He continued: “We knew from time to time that the African Cup of Nations would be held, and that Mo had to leave, and that was always clear. Now with (Japanese) Wataru Endo we have a participant in the Asian Cup as well. We will deal with the matter.”
Regarding the return of Diogo Jota, the Reds coach explained: “The return of all players is very important, but Diogo in particular. Now with the departure of Mo and Endo, we need everyone to return.”
It is noteworthy that the African Cup of Nations will be held in Côte d’Ivoire between January 13 and February 11, 2024, while the Asian Cup will be held in Qatar between January 12 and February 10.
