Jurgen Klopp will not buy to replace Africa Cup of Nations trio

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he will not attempt to replace Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita in the transfer market when they go to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Reds boss could be without at least two members of that trio for a month from the start of January.

Egypt forward Salah, Senegal’s Mane and Keita, who plays for Guinea, have been key men for Liverpool this season.

“I am happy with the squad and we still have options,” Klopp said.

“We knew three would be qualified and be there and we knew that at least two of them will go pretty far in the tournament,” Klopp added.

“Can you be prepared for something like that, properly, perfectly? Like a one-for-one replacement for Sadio, a replacement for Mo, one replacement for Naby? That’s tricky in each situation.

“The thing is there are so many games coming up when we are still together – that is the most intense period now – but then we have a lot of games when Mo and Naby and Sadio are not here.

“That means we have to find line-ups for these games, even when we have cup competitions we have to find line-ups for these games as well, and that is the situation, so you can never be perfectly prepared for this.

“We are quite confident we will find solutions.”

Salah is the Premier League’s top scorer with 15 so far this season, while Mane has seven in the league.

The Cup of Nations will be played in Cameroon between 9 January and 6 February. In 2019 Algeria won the tournament, beating Senegal in the final.

Source: myJoy