Egypt's sports minister admits he's encouraged Mohamed Salah to leave Liverpool.

The Liverpool forward was unable to guide his country to Qatar 2022 as Egypt lost 3-1 on penalties to Senegal last week.

"I met with Mohamed Salah at the airport after the end of the Senegal match and the failure to reach the World Cup finals and said to him to forget what happened and focus on what's next," Ashraf Sobhi told Egyptian radio.

"I have advised him to continue his journey at a club other than Liverpool, but his direction now is to renew his contract with Liverpool.

"There are campaigns against Salah directed by some to bring him down, but I asked him not to pay attention to them."

Salah is yet to commit to new terms at Liverpool and enters the final year of his current deal in June, with negotiations in progress.