Former Tottenham striker Mido believes that Mohamed Salah has to go to the African Cup of Nations with his country Egypt.

Salah is likely to play in AFCON in 2021, which could clash with the Premier League season.

It could mean he is out for about three months of club games, especially if the calendar is tweaked because of COVID-19.

He may even be called up for the 2021 Olympics by Egypt. But Mido thinks that Salah cannot turn his back on his nation.

The former Spurs man told The Sun: "Salah must go with Egypt to AFCON — and Liverpool don't have the right to say no.

"These are Fifa rules and they can't prevent Salah from joining the national team for any reason. If Salah doesn't want to go, then this is the only reason for not seeing him.

"All African players had this problem when we were in England. So I was happy when the 2019 AFCON was played in the summer.

"This kept the African stars away from any problem with their clubs but the Confederation of African Football decided to go back to the old schedule.

"Salah is very important, of course, to our senior national team and to the Olympic team.

"A player with his experience and leadership... he can make the difference.

"He will be one of the most important players in the tournament, not only for Egypt. We now know the Olympics will be held in the summer of 2021.

"So hopefully things will go normally and the season will be finished by then and he will have the chance to play with the Olympic team."