Klopp waiting to make Salah Olympic call

Jurgen Klopp has not yet made a decision on whether Liverpool star Mohamed Salah will be permitted to represent Egypt at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Egypt Under-23 boss Shawky Gharib confirmed his intention to select Salah as one of three overage players for the football tournament in Tokyo, although he conceded he is yet to discuss the matter with the player.

Speaking ahead of Liverpool's Premier League trip to Norwich City on Saturday, Klopp echoed this week's interjection from Salah's agent Ramy Abbas Issa that a conclusion to the matter is still to be reached.

"Do I want to lose a player in the pre-season? Of course not, that's clear. We have to consider different things," he said.

"I need to speak with Mo and all that stuff. We are completely clear about what we want but we need more information – how would it look, when would the preparation start and all that stuff.

"Nobody really contacted us so far – it's just in the media. It's difficult to get in contact with me through newspapers because most of the things I don’t read.

"No decision has been made yet, but we'll see."

For Rio 2016, clubs were not obliged to release players for the Olympic football tournament because it was not part of FIFA's international match calendar.

World football's governing body did ask for "support from the clubs to allow players who are called up by their national teams to be given the chance to be part of the Olympic experience" ahead of a competition where Neymar inspired Brazil to glory on home soil.

Klopp certainly understands the appeal that becoming an Olympian might hold for Salah, who scored twice but was compromised by a shoulder injury as Egypt lost all three of their matches at the 2018 World Cup.

"We've had to play already without Mo – not too often, thank God, but from time to time," Klopp said.

"It's not about that. All the positive things about Mo I could say I've said in different press conferences.

"It's the Olympic Games and I am still a sports person. Olympians are Olympians. We have to see how we can deal with it.

"We cannot discuss it really because we don't know a lot about it, apart from the things the manager of the Olympic team said. They have to contact us and we will see."

Klopp was addressing the media for the first time since another scheduling conflict – namely the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury Town that fell during Liverpool's scheduled mid-season break.

The manager did not attend the match and left under-23 manager Neil Critchley to helm a youthful line-up that prevailed 1-0 to set up a last-16 clash with Chelsea.

"It was absolutely great. I'm really happy for the boys. They all loved it like crazy, they loved it," Klopp said.

"It was absolutely sensational what our crowd made of this game. Creating that atmosphere shows what a wonderful club we are.

"For us it was never a standpoint against the FA Cup – I know people probably misunderstand it – but it was just to make sure that, as we decided there is a winter break, there must be a winter break.

"You cannot please everybody in the end, you have to think a little bit more about it. That's what we tried to infer, to discuss about these things. If you don’t discuss, things just get worse and worse and worse.

"We all love the Premier League, we all love the FA Cup and the League Cup, Champions League, all the games we play. We just have to make sure that the time in between is at least time for a little nap or something."

Klopp will welcome back James Milner and Sadio Mane from hamstring injuries for the runaway Premier League leaders' visit to Carrow Road.

Published 14 Feb 2020, 18:00 IST