‘This Is So Not On’ ‘Gotta Be Kidding Me’ Fans React As Liverpool Risk Losing Three Key Players For EIGHT Games

‘This Is So Not On’ ‘Gotta Be Kidding Me’ Fans React As Liverpool Risk Losing Three Key Players For EIGHT Games

Liverpool trio Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita could be called up by their countries for the African Cup of Nations as early as December 27th and they may not be able to fly back to the UK before the second week of February next year, according to The Athletic.

It means the three players could miss games versus Leicester, Chelsea, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leicester (second league match) and Burnley as well as potentially two FA Cup ties.

Supporters on Twitter have been taken aback by the revelation, with some questioning why the Reds didn’t do more business in the summer transfer window:

It is believed that Liverpool will try and persuade the likes of Egypt, Senegal and Guinea to take their players a week later (on January 3rd) so that the Reds can have Salah, Mane and Keita available for the Chelsea match on January 2nd.

However, with AFCON starting on January 9th, FIFA rules mean countries are well within their rights to take them on December 27th, with two weeks of preparation time permitted.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.