Reason revealed for Salah’s absence from Liverpool Christmas photo

Mohamed Salah skipped Wednesday evening’s Liverpool training session at Melwood because he was promoting Vodafone in his native Egypt.

Salah was a notable absentee from the session – which was taking place just 48 hours before the Reds take on Arsenal at The Emirates on Friday night – with fans reportedly concerned that he might have an injury when he wasn’t spotted in a squad Christmas photo.

However, it would seem that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp sanctioned the trip home for the Premier League’s top scorer, despite it coming so close to Friday’s game.

Vodafone Egypt announced Salah as their new brand ambassador on Wednesday, as reported by the Daily Mirror.

In a statement on Facebook they hailed Salah as “the best player in Africa for 2017, and the English Premier League and Egyptian national team.”

They also claim that Salah – whose goals helped Egypt qualify for their first World Cup since 1990 – was picked because of “what he represents for youth in Egypt and the world as an example for the realization of ambitions, dreams and a symbol of an aspiration to a stronger and better future.”

Salah – who has scored an incredible 20 goals already in his debut season for the Reds – is expected to return to training on Thursday as the Reds prepare to tackle Arsene Wenger’s men.

Both Salah and Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane, meanwhile, could face a 9,000-mile round trip to Ghana for the African Player of the Year awards on January 4.

Both are nominated for the main award, with the ceremony taking place just a day before Liverpool take on Merseyside rivals Everton in the third round of the FA Cup.