How Mohamed Salah reacted to Liverpool's decision to deny Olympics call-up with Egypt

Liverpool's decision to stop Mohamed Salah from playing for Egypt at the Olympics was fully backed by the player himself. The Reds are not worried about upsetting their star player after deciding to retain him for the entire summer schedule instead of letting him join his national team for a gold medal pursuit in France.

Egypt were increasingly accepting the fact that they wouldn't have their talisman with them for the Paris Games. Now, new Liverpool boss Arne Slot will have Salah available for the entire pre-season period.

The men's football tournament at the Olympics starts on July 24, with the final scheduled for August 9, just eight days before Liverpool's Premier League season opener against Ipswich Town. Having such a key player essentially unavailable for the pre-season was far from ideal.

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Instead, Salah will be among the few first-team stars reporting back for training this weekend at the AXA Centre. This gives new head coach Slot a significant boost as he plans his initial weeks in the role, having taken over from Jurgen Klopp at the start of last month.

Egypt had hoped to include their captain as one of the three allowed players over the age of 23 for the Games. However, it is understood that the Egyptian Football Association did not directly approach Liverpool to make the request.

Liverpool decided that Salah would not be cleared to represent his nation due to the Olympics not being a FIFA-mandated tournament. Liverpool were under no obligation to release a player who has been their top scorer every season since he arrived from Roma in 2017.

It's understood that Salah himself agreed to stay with his club this pre-season after consultation and is eager to start on the right foot for what is a new era at Anfield under Slot. With Salah set to play for only his second manager on Merseyside in what will be his eighth campaign with the Reds, the now 32 year old is determined to remain as influential for the new head coach as he was under Klopp.

That means Salah will be part of the club's contingent that flies to the United States later this month for friendlies with Real Betis, Arsenal and Manchester United, and the full benefit of an entire pre-season schedule is being viewed as a hugely positive development.

It also means the Reds will be able to boast having their most recognizable star in tow on the lucrative tour of the States, which begins in Pittsburgh against Betis on July 26 before games against fierce rivals United in Philadelphia on July 31 and Arsenal in Columbia on August 3.

* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can read the original story in the Liverpool ECHO by clicking here .