Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah tested positive for COVID-19 but is asymptomatic, the Egyptian Football Association announced on Friday. Medical swabs on the national team “showed that our international player, Mohamed Salah, Liverpool star, was infected with the coronavirus”, it said in a tweet, adding he was “not suffering from any symptoms”.

The announcement comes as Egypt prepare to take on Togo at home on Saturday in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

However, the tweet said other members of the Egyptian national team tested negative.

Salah was observing medical protocols agreed in consultations between doctors in Egypt and Liverpool, a coronavirus hotspot, and self-isolating in a Cairo hotel room.

The two-time African Footballer of the Year will undergo further tests in the coming hours, the federation said.

The news will come as a huge blow to the Merseyside team as their season has already been marred by significant injury scares. First, they lost star defender Virgil van Dijk to an anterior cruciate ligament injury. 

Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold are also long-term absentees with injuries. Just at the start of the international break Liverpool then lost centre-back, Joe Gomez, during England National team’s training session. The 23-year-old will undergo surgery and could be out for months.

Liverpool next face Leicester City in the Premier League on November 21. They could miss keeper Alisson and forward Roberto Firmino for the fixtures, as they might have to self-isolate owing to their Brazilian national teammate Gabriel Menino testing positive earlier in the day.

The footballing authorities have come under a lot of flak after going forward with these international breaks because of which players have to step outside their bubbles and join the national sides, making them vulnerable to coronavirus.