Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp Reveals Mo Salah and Sadio Mane Will Miss Matches During AFCON

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that the club will be without two of its main strikers for a brief spell. The 52-year-old said Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will miss several games in 2020/21 due to the African Cup of Nations, where their national teams are participating.

The organisers of the event said the tournament will take place next January, in the middle of the European football season and a crucial moment for the Premier League title race.

How many matches both players will miss of course depends on how successful their national teams are during the tournament, but generally speaking both Egypt and Senegal often advance to the latter stages of the tournament. Judging by the 2017 African Cup of Nations, Mane and Salah may miss two or three weeks.

This development may force Klopp to spend heavily during the summer transfer window, Football Insider reported.

Klopp may save the club millions if he decides to rely on young players in the team’s under 23 squad. Takumi Minamino, who was signed this January, may be joined by 19-year-old Curtis Jones, who netted 9 goals for the club in the Premier League 2 division 1. Former Liverpool star Robbie Fowler praised the 19-year-old, who Fowler said has "bags of talent".

"Curtis Jones has bags of talent. Like me, he is from Toxteth and, like me, he’s not shy! He has that confidence, he’s not afraid to speak up and say his piece", said Robbie Fowler.