Egypt boss hits out at Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp as Mohamed Salah faces injury absence

Egypt manager Rui Vitoria has lambasted Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp after further details about Mohamed Salah's recent injury emerged on Monday (January 22).

Earlier past Thursday, Egypt suffered a serious blow after their captain sustianed a muscle injury in their 2-2 Africa Cup of Nations Group B draw against Ghana. They advanced to the last-16 stage after a 2-2 draw against Cape Verde this Monday in the attacker's absence.

Meanwhile, just hours before Egypt's last Group B encounter, Salah's agent Ramy Abbas Issa confirmed on X that his client could be "out for 21-28 days". Liverpool, on the other hand, also asserted that the 31-year-old's injury was "worse than first feared" in an official statement.

However, Vitoria is apparently unhappy with the Reds' decision of confirming their player's injury. Following Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations clash against Cape Verde, he told reporters (h/t Yahoo! Sports):

"I want to take this opportunity to clarify things. Mohamed Salah has an injury, which we learned before this game was a longer-term injury than we first thought, so we have had to prolong the amount of time before he can play again. Before the game, we did not want to say anything. Meanwhile, everything was in the control of our excellent medical team."

Vitoria, who has lost just once in 17 games as Egypt boss, continued:

"Given we were going to have to travel, given the temperatures, given that we were going to be going to a different city, maybe it makes sense that he should have a place he can go to recover as quickly as possible. We didn't want to alarm anyone."

Expressing his frustration with the Reds' decision-making, Vitoria said:

"I didn't think it was right for Liverpool, via any intermediary, to speak about this, because we had a tremendously important game today. Salah has always been with us. Now this game is over we will find the best solution for the treatment of the player. These are the facts. This is the situation."

Now, the former Chelsea and AS Roma man is set to return to the Merseyside club to begin his rehabilitation process. Having already missed three Reds matches this year, he is likely to miss a further five or six outings for the current Premier League leaders this campaign.

How well has Mohamed Salah fared for his national team and Liverpool this season?

Mohamed Salah, who left Roma to move to Anfield for close to £37 million in 2017, has been in stellar form for both club and country this season. Before departing for Africa Cup of Nations, he helped Liverpool cement themselves as a major Premier League title contender.

Operating in his usual right inside-forward role for his club, he has scored 18 goals in 27 matches across competitions, including 23 starts, so far. He has also laid out nine assists for Liverpool this campaign.

On the other hand, Salah has found the back of the net five times in nine matches for Egypt since past June. The 31-year-old has also assisted four goals in national colors during the aforesaid period of time.