Mohamed Salah is poised to captain Egypt at next month’s tournament in Morocco, which gets underway on December 21.

Should the Pharaohs progress all the way to the final, taking place in Rabat on January 18, Salah would be likely to miss as many as eight Liverpool games.

The Ghana Black Stars surprisingly failed to qualify for the continental tournament, having finished bottom of the qualifying group, for the first time since 2004 and only the second time since 1990.

Ghana’s absence from the Africa Cup of Nations would give interested clubs extra motivation to explore a mid-season switch for Semenyo.

Liverpool are one such club who are said to be monitoring the forward, with it previously reported as far back as last season that he had been considered as a possible long-term successor to Salah.

Should the Reds wish to make a mid-season move for the Ghanaian, they would be boosted by the knowledge that he would not miss any matches due to AFCON this season.