Liverpool star Mo Salah REJECTS offer of luxury gift as reward for firing Egypt to World Cup

Liverpool star Mo Salah has turned down the offer of a luxury villa for firing Egypt to the World Cup.

The Reds flier has instead asked the Egyptian businessman behind the gesture to make a donation to his home village, report the Liverpool Echo.

Sources in the north African country say that Salah was contacted by Mamdouh Abbas, the former president of the club Zamalek in his homeland, after the dramatic 2-1 victory over Congo earlier this month.

Abbas wanted Salah to have the holiday villa as a gift in recognition of the part he played in the Pharaohs reaching their first World Cup since 1990.

However, the 25-year-old politely declined and said a donation to Nagrig village in Gharbiya province, which is around 150km from the capital Cairo, would make him happier.

Already a national hero in Egypt, Salah’s stock reached new heights after scoring with a 94th minute penalty against Congo in the Borg El Arab Stadium.

The governor of Gharbiya renamed the player’s former school in Basioun ‘Mohamed Salah Industrial High School’. Nagrig’s youth centre is also being renamed in his honour.

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah's row with the Egyptian federation looms over start of a new era under Javier Aguirre

Mohamed Salah's series of spats with his national soccer association will loom over the Egypt team as it attempts to recover from a poor — some called it disastrous — World Cup when African Cup qualifying recommences this weekend. 

The Liverpool forward appears to have won his latest tussle with the Egyptian soccer association after demanding better organisation and more protection for players who were exposed to a politically-charged environment at the World Cup, where Egypt lost all its games.

Salah's unhappiness stemmed from photo opportunities he and others were apparently cajoled into attending in Russia with Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov , who is accused of human rights abuses. 

With his latest demands met, Salah, who has previously argued with the federation over his image rights , is with the Egypt squad for Saturday's qualifier against Niger. 

All five of the African teams that disappointed at the World Cup — no team from the continent made the knockout stage — are in action over the weekend and looking to ease their Russian hangovers. 

Many of them, Egypt included, are currently out of the qualifying places and have work to do to make sure they play at the African Cup of Nations next year in Cameroon. 

The sidelined Liverpool stars now set to have big part in Jurgen Klopp's plans

With the Premier League set to resume after the first international break of the season, it may seem premature to suggest Liverpool are about to head into a decisive period of the campaign.

The Reds are currently top of the table having won all four of their games so far, conceding just one goal along the way.

Summer signings Alisson and Naby Keita have settled in well, with manager Jurgen Klopp making just one change to his starting XI across Liverpool’s opening four matches.

While things look rosy for the Reds now, Klopp’s men will be well aware of the challenges that await them over the next month before the October international break.

The Champions League group-stages get underway next week as Liverpool follow up Saturday’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur by hosting Paris Saint-Germain.

They then welcome Southampton to Anfield in the league before playing hosts once again with Chelsea the visitors to Merseyside in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Back in league action as they face Chelsea for a second time in quick succession, this time at Stamford Bridge, they then travel to Napoli in the Champions League before hosting Premier League champions Manchester City in their final outing before the next round of international call-ups.

Although boasting an 100% winning record so far, Klopp will have expected maximum points from what was a straightforward opening to the campaign on paper.

Numerous clashes against fellow league title challengers and Champions League hopefuls in quick-succession has the potential to define Liverpool’s season, as supporters prepare to find out how serious contenders their side will be this year.

And having strengthened their squad in the summer so they could compete on multiple fronts this season, the upcoming month will be the first real test of the Reds’ depth.

Move on Lionel Messi - How Mohamed Salah has helped end Barcelona star's dominance

After taking Anfield by storm last season with an astonishing 44 goals goals as Liverpool reached the Champions League Final, supporters were already talking about Mohamed Salah in the same breath as the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.

For over a decade it has been the same two names at the top of the world football table, battling for the biggest trophies at club-level and exchanging the likes of the Ballon d’Or on an annual basis.

As age begins to catch up with the duo and they find themselves on the wrong side of 30, Neymar was seen as the natural successor while the Brazilian’s Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe is another destined for stardom after wowing at this summer’s World Cup.

Liverpool will have to worry about both players when this season’s Champions League gets underway after the September international break, yet it is Salah who has taken the first steps at ending Ronaldo and Messi’s decade-long domination.

The Egyptian has been shortlisted for The Best FIFA Men's Player Award ahead of the FIFA Football Awards later this month, becoming the first Premier League player to be up for the award since 2008.

He is also the first African confederation footballer to reach the final three shortlist since Samuel Eto'o in 2005.

His competition stands in the form of Ronaldo (the last Premier League winner) and Luka Modric. For the first time since 2006, Messi did not make the cut.

Reigning holder Ronaldo was always going to be in contention after helping Real Madrid win the Champions League for a third season in a row.

The Portuguese matched Salah’s total of 44 goals across all competitions before impressing for his homeland at the World Cup in Russia, memorably scoring a hat-trick against Spain.

Meanwhile, Modric too shone over the summer as Croatia reached the World Cup Final, walking away with the Golden Ball award for best player despite their defeat to France to add another trophy to his ever-growing collection with Real Madrid.

Mohamed Salah signs new Liverpool contract to 2023 and is hailed by Klopp

Liverpool have secured Mohamed Salah on a new five-year contract that Jürgen Klopp believes provides further evidence of the progress being made at Anfield.

The Egypt international has committed his future to Liverpool until 2023 in a lucrative deal that does not contain a release clause. Salah was widely coveted following a phenomenal debut season at Anfield that brought 44 goals in 52 appearances at club level and, as expected, has followed Roberto Firmino in committing to Klopp’s team for the long term. Sadio Mané is also in line for a new and improved contract at Liverpool.

Salah’s form and global status has soared since he joined Liverpool on a five-year deal from Roma last summer. Negotiations on a new contract started with the 26-year-old’s agent, Ramy Abbas, before the end of a stunning debut season with Liverpool that brought a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League and a Champions League final appearance. Salah was forced out of the final defeat to Real Madrid with a shoulder injury but he returned to make two appearances for Egypt at the World Cup.

No financial details have been announced about the forward’s new deal but he is expected to have doubled his wage to around £200,000 a week. The absence of a release clause ensures Liverpool are in a strong position should a rival suitor, such as Real Madrid, step up their interest in Salah in the future.

Klopp, who was back at Melwood on Monday for the start of pre-season training, said: “I think this news can be seen for what it is: rewarding a person who performed and contributed greatly for the team and the club last season. It demonstrates two things very clearly also – his belief in Liverpool and our belief in him. We want world-class talent to see they have a home at Anfield where they can fulfil all their professional dreams and ambitions – we are working hard together to achieve this.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah reopens image rights row with Egyptian FA

Mohamed Salah has revived a dispute with Egypt’s football association and accused them of ignoring his complaints over image rights.

The 26-year-old Liverpool forward was upset in April when his image was used to promote Egypt’s official sponsor WE; Salah has a sponsorship deal with Vodafone.

“It’s normal that a football federation seeks to solve the problems of its players so they can feel comfortable,” Salah wrote on Twitter. “But in fact, what I see is exactly the opposite.

“It is not normal that my messages and my lawyer’s messages are ignored. I don’t know why all this [is happening]. Do you not have time to respond to us?!”

The Egyptian Football Association said in a statement it would address a letter sent by Salah’s lawyer, Ramy Abbas, on Monday.

Abbas tweeted: “We asked for guarantees regarding Mohamed’s wellbeing whilst with the national team, and assurances that the image rights violations wouldn’t happen again. That’s all. They have yet to respond.”

Liverpool stars Virgil van Dijk, Dejan Lovren, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane nominated for prestigious FIFA award

Liverpool have four players named on the 55-man shortlist for the FIFPro World XI that is named later this month.

Virgil van Dijk, Dejan Lovren, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are the quartet of Reds stars who received the nod from some of the 25,000 professionals who voted across 65 countries.

The World XI - which theoretically plays a 4-3-3 formation - will be announced at a FIFA and FIFPro ceremony in London on Monday September 24.

Van Dijk joined the Reds in January and played a big part in helping Jurgen Klopp's Reds to the Champions League final and a top-four finish in the second half of the campaign.

The world's most expensive defender's £75million arrival from Southampton coincided with a huge upturn in defensive fortunes for the Reds and Liverpool eventually went on to record their most number of clean sheets since 2010 with 17.