'Ridiculous and cheap' - Mohamed Salah and Liverpool ace's agent hit back at Egypt critics

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has hit back at his critics after his commitment was questioned in some quarters. Pharaohs' legend Ahmed Hassan was among those to suggest that he should get treatment in the Ivory Coast rather than on Merseyside.

“Yesterday I started the treatment and rehabilitation program,” Salah has now written on X/Twitter. “And I will do everything possible to be ready as soon as possible and return to the national team as was agreed upon from the beginning... I also love it and its people... try harder.”

Salah's agent has also responded to claims that the forward was not committed enough to his country and that the decision to return to Liverpool was the wrong one. Ramy Abbas Issa took to X/Twitter with a strong message.

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“The same individuals and ‘influencers’ who get weak in the knees when they happen to bump into Mohamed in person and beg for ‘follows’ or selfies, tried to capitalise on an unfortunate injury and questioned Mohamed’s commitment to his country,” Salah's representative wrote. “They did this looking for fame, clicks and ‘likes’.

“I want to thank those who did the honourable thing and pointed out how ridiculous and cheap that was. I took names. In both cases. Most importantly, to the vast majority of you, who support Mohamed, my message to you is not to worry, because your global icon, the one you helped create, is already too big to be brought down by social media. No hyperventilating or foaming-in-the-mouth ‘influencer’ is going to change that.”

In his pre-match press conference ahead of the Norwich game, Jürgen Klopp attempted to diffuse the situation. “Most people in Egypt understand the situation because we have exactly the same target as Egypt. Make Mo as fit as quickly as possible. That’s all, that’s all we want."

Klopp also noted: "All parties agreed that it makes sense that he is doing the rehab here." But he apologized for what he had previously said regarding Salah returning to the club: “If I said something too early, because I said I’m not sure when you asked the question. I knew there were discussions that he might come home but I didn’t know if that was already sorted or not. I have different things to do.

“And somebody tells me then, ‘How can you say that?’ Then I’m sorry but it was not intentionally wrong or wanting to do the wrong thing, I just didn’t know exactly how the situation was in that moment and that’s it."

Liverpool.com says: Anyone questioning Salah's commitment simply doesn't understand the situation. He is injured and it makes most sense to get better in Liverpool rather than elsewhere, and then if he gets fit again before Egypt exits AFCON, he will join up with the squad again. Simple!