German coach Juergen Klopp has indicated that he needs “additional information” to make a decision about allowing his team’s star, Mohamed Salah, to participate with the Egyptian team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The start of the Olympic Games coincides with the first round of the Premier League, next season, on August 1.
Klopp said, “Do I want to lose a pre-season player? Of course not … that is clear,” according to the BBC website.
He added: “But we have to take into account several things. I will talk to Mu (Salah) about this.”
Klopp’s comments came in response to the Egyptian Olympic team coach, Shawky Gharib, who said that Salah would be among the top three who will join the team in Tokyo, if the coach of his team, Liverpool, agreed to this.
Those who are under 23 years old will participate in the football competition in the Olympic Games, with the exception of 3 players over this age, and Egyptian officials hope that Salah, 27, will be one of them.
Klopp said: “We are very clear about what we want, but we need more information: how will the player’s participation be, and when the preparation will begin, all these things.”
The agent of the Egyptian star, Rami Abbas, said in a brief tweet on Twitter, on Wednesday, that “the decision has not been made yet” regarding Salah’s participation, in a comment on the announcement of the coach of the team, Shawky Gharib, that he would depend on the left-handed player talented in the Olympics.
The Egyptian team qualified for the Olympics after winning the African Nations Cup for Youth last November, and it qualified with the teams of Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa.
Klopp will also have to think about his Brazilian stars, Roberto Firmino, Fabien, and Alison Baker, who may be called in to represent Brazil as well as in the Olympics.
