"The most loyal Egyptian I've met in my life" - Jurgen Klopp launches passionate defense of Mohamed Salah as he leaves AFCON for injury treatment

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has slammed Mohamed Salah's critics, who called out the attacker for leaving the national camp and returning to England during AFCON.

Speaking to the media after the Reds' win over Fulham, Klopp claimed that Salah did not want to delay the treatment for his injury and thus returned immediately. He added that the Liverpool star was keen on returning to the national team if they were still in the tournament when he gains full fitness.

He said:

"Egypt and Liverpool both have the same interest, we want Mo Salah fit as soon as possible. If he stays in Africa and they can't do the proper treatment, it will just delay everything, especially for Egypt if they go through the tournament. We bring him here not because we want to take him away from Egypt but just to offer the best medical treatment. It's all agreed. If Salah is fit and Egypt go to the final, it was always clear, he goes back, 100 per cent. Mo wants that, we want that."

Mohamed Salah scored in the first game of the AFCON to help Egypt get a draw against Mozambique. However, he was taken off after the first half in their second match against Ghana, which also finished in a draw.

Mohamed Salah blasted for returning to Liverpool

Egypt legend Ahmed Hassan slammed Mohamed Salah last week after the forward returned to Liverpool following his injury. He believes that the national team captain should have stayed with the team and helped them out.

He was speaking to the Mirror when he said:

"I've always backed Salah and I was very happy with his presence as captain of the Egyptian national team. I had no problems with what he said, but it turned out that he was plotting his departure from the Egypt camp. Do the AFCON regulations allow a player to leave the national team's camp and come back again?"

He added:

"He had the possibility of bringing in someone from Liverpool's medical staff to be with him during the competition. Again, he is the captain. He should stay with the team no matter what, even if he only had one leg to stand on. He even said himself that it's the Egyptian national team, not Salah's national team, and this is true. We have confidence in all the players who are there and they must fight for the title."

Mohamed Salah's agent has stated that the injury is worse than first thought. He revealed that the Liverpool star will be out for 21-28 days - hinting that he will be out for the entire AFCON even if Egypt make it to the final.