Mohamed Salah’s injury at AFCON worse than feared, agent says

Mohamed Salah could miss the rest of the African Cup of Nations and Liverpool's Premier League clash against Brentford on February 17 after the Egyptian striker's agent said he faced “21 to 28 days” of inactivity due to hamstring injury.

Salah, 31, is due to return to Liverpool this week to undergo intensive treatment following the injury he suffered against Ghana, aiming to boost his hopes of being fit for the AFCON semi-final stage if Egypt qualifies for the last four.

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But Ramy Abbas Issa, Salah's longtime representative, posted on On Monday, the Liverpool star faces a race against time to return to full fitness to play for Egypt again at the tournament in Ivory Coast.

“Mohammed's injury is more serious than initially thought and he will be out for 21-28 days, not 2 games,” Issa said in a message. “His best chance of participating in the current AFCON is to undergo intensive rehabilitation in the UK and join the team as soon as he is fit.”

Sources at Liverpool told ESPN that their estimate of Salah's likely rehabilitation period agreed with Issa's statement.

Egypt ended Monday's AFCON group match later in the day with a dramatic 2-2 draw against the Cape Verde Islands that saw Salah advance to the round of 16.

Salah has only missed two games through injury for Liverpool since signing from AS Roma in a £34.3 million move in 2017.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed on Sunday that Salah would return to the club for treatment, but with the AFCON final due to take place on February 11, the 21-28 day recovery time would rule him out. of the competition and also cast doubt on his chances of playing six days later for the current Premier League leaders.