Mohamed Salah: Egypt coach Rui Vittoria unhappy with Liverpool for discussing player's return from AFCON

Egypt manager Rui Vittoria has said he is unhappy with the way that Liverpool have publicly addressed Mohamed Salah's injury predicament as the forward is set to return to Anfield.

Salah rescued a point for his nation at the Africa Cup of Nations with a 97th minute penalty against Mozambique in the opening game, but was forced off against Ghana in the first half with an injury.

Egypt initially said that they expected him to miss a few games but Salah's agent later confirmed that the player's injury was worse than feared, and he is expected to be out of action for around a month.

Following Liverpool's 4-0 victory at Bournemouth on Sunday, Klopp suggested there was a chance that Salah would return to the club to undergo rehabilitation on his hamstring injury, which was later confirmed by the Egypt FA.

However, speaking after the Pharaohs booked their place in the AFCON knockout rounds on a dramatic night of action, manager Vittoria addressed the situation.

“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,” Vittoria said.

“Before the game we did not want to say anything. Meanwhile, everything was in the control of our excellent medical team.

“We didn’t want to alarm anyone. I didn’t think it was right for Liverpool, via any intermediary, to speak about this, because we had a tremendously important game. Salah has always been with us. Now this game is over we will find the best solution for the treatment of the player."

Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders detailed the extent of Salah's injury and gave his own explanation of the situation.

"Because of the first message that came out that it would only be a few days, or a week, a detailed scan was then made and it showed a proper tear in his hamstring," Lijnders said on Tuesday.

"His expected return will be between three and four weeks if everything goes right."

Speaking ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham, Lijnders also defended the decision for Salah to leave AFCON after he has faced criticism for leaving his nation at the tournament.

“You should never doubt the commitment of Mo Salah," he added. "I never met a guy, a player but also a human being, who is more committed to the life of being a professional football player.

"I know the country is devastated to lose him. We were devastated to hear he got injured. He played the first game, scores, assists, [he's] captain and massively important, of course, but the only reason our medical team and their medical team decided for him to come back is to give the best possible chance to be available if Egypt make the final.

"What I'm really happy about is the medical team of Egypt and Liverpool worked together, were really in close contact and they made this decision together. It is an example of how international football and club football should co-operate to put the player in the centre and not the targets of everyone because it is a conflict of interest."

Salah watched on Monday night as four injury-time goals in two Group B games changed the course of the knockout rounds.

Needing to win the game at the time and held at 1-1, Egypt scored a 93rd minute goal through Mostafa Mohammed but hopes had been dashed when Cabo Verde grabbed a 99th minute equaliser.

However, the Egyptians appeared unaware for some time that the draw was enough to send them through after Ghana had conceded two stoppage-time goals to draw 2-2 against Mozambique to keep their qualification hopes all-but over.

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