More than any other tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations is something of a moveable feast.
Depending on the host nation, it can be played either during Europe’s off-season in the summer, or right in the middle of the campaign in January and February.
That has caused something of a headache for a number of clubs over the years, not least Liverpool.
In 2022 for example, both Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané made it all the way to the competition’s final, leaving the Reds without two of their regular front three for an extended period during what turned out to be a push for four trophies.
Though Liverpool’s African contingent has since shrunk following the departures of Mané and Naby Keïta, it is still set to be affected for the next iteration of AFCON, which takes place from January 13 and runs until February 11.
Some clubs could claim to be worse off than Liverpool — Manchester United, for example, will likely be without goalkeeper André Onana and midfielder Sofyan Amrabat — but few have a player in their ranks as influential as Salah, and bar injury or a simply astonishing selction call, he will be involved again.
If anyone were to doubt just how highly Liverpool rates its Egyptian king, they only need look at the steadfast refusal to bow down to the monumental bid that came in from Saudi Arabia during the summer. You don’t turn down $187m (£150m/€174m) unless you’ve got something special on your hands.
But the interest from Al-Ittihad isn’t likely to disappear anytime soon, and Liverpool will no doubt have to entertain big-money offers again before long. With Salah entering the final year of his contract next summer, there is an air of inevitability about him moving to the Middle East at some point.
That leaves the Reds with a new transfer priority when they head into January. Beforehand, a new defender would have been the obvious next step, having poured all their efforts into the midfield during the summer, but now there seems to be an obvious end game with Salah, it only makes sense to target his successor as early as possible.
With Salah away on international duty, it also presents Liverpool with the perfect opportunity to bed a new arrival into the side, and give Jürgen Klopp a better idea of what his priorities will be next summer.
Not only that, but it could be vital in ensuring Manchester City doesn’t tighten its grip on the Premier League.
Unlike the rest of the conventional ‘big six’, Pep Guardiola won’t have to release any of his players for AFCON in the New Year, having already offloaded Riyad Mahrez during the summer.
That gives Manchester City a major advantage over its rivals at a time when Guardiola’s sides tend to move up a gear anyway. And having already made a perfect start this season, it’s already looking fairly ominous for any hope of preventing a sixth title win in seven years.
Whether Liverpool will be able to challenge Man City this season remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt Klopp’s side is one of a select few who can at least put a dent in its rival’s ambitions, and Salah is key to that.
If Liverpool is to challenge Manchester City again this season, it will need Salah’s heir in place sooner rather than later.
