Will Salah be back from AFCON for Gameweek 24?

We round up the key Fantasy Premier League (FPL) talking points of the day in FPL Daily, a weekday series that serves non-Premier League matchdays and days when we don’t bring you a team news/press conference round-up.

WILL SALAH BE BACK FOR GAMEWEEK 24?

Mohamed Salah (£12.7m) and Sadio Mane (£11.7m) are among nine Premier League players whose stay at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was extended further this weekend.

Egypt and Senegal joined hosts Cameroon and Burkina Faso in progressing to the AFCON semi-finals, with Salah and Mane both contributing attacking returns to their respective nations’ quarter-final victories.

Crucially when it comes to FPL, it also should ensure that they – along with seven other UK-based players – will remain with their countries until Sunday 6 February, as even the two teams who lose their semi-finals will contest a third/fourth-place play-off on the same day as the tournament final. We say ‘should’ as the play-off is ultimately a bit of a dead rubber, so Premier League clubs may decide to chance their arm with a cheeky early release request.

Liverpool are in Gameweek 24 action four days after AFCON ends so, while Salah and Mane could easily be back in the UK in time for the clash with Leicester City, it remains to be seen whether Jurgen Klopp would entertain the idea of including his two wingers in his starting XI after they previously featured in up to seven international matches in the space of four weeks.

Salah has also been through extra-time twice in the knockout rounds already, racking up 510 minutes in all over the last three weeks.

*Nampalys Mendy (Leicester/Senegal) is also at AFCON but isn’t part of the Foxes’ 25-man Premier League squad

A post-tournament breather for Salah and Mane like the one Pep Guardiola gave Riyad Mahrez (£8.6m) is another possibility.

Klopp did this with a selection of players after the 2018 World Cup, although we’re talking about a completely different time of the season. When AFCON was last staged in January in 2017, the Liverpool boss brought Mane back into a matchday squad three days after Senegal were eliminated, with his involvement limited to 15 minutes off the bench.

Mane, however, had only played three matches for his country while away, rather than seven.

The winger then started and lasted the full 90 minutes in Liverpool’s next league game, four days later.

LIVERPOOL LAND LUIS DIAZ…

While owners of Diogo Jota (£8.4m) will perhaps be glad to see Salah and Mane go deep into AFCON and lessen the competition for a place in Gameweek 24 at least, they’ll have been less enamoured by the arrival of a new attacker in the shape of Luis Diaz (£8.0m).

The 25-year-old winger has signed a long-term contract with the Reds and joined for an initial £37.5m from Porto.

The Colombia international is currently representing his country in the World Cup qualifiers in South America but will hook up with his new teammates after Tuesday’s meeting with Argentina, allowing him a good week or so of integration time before the Reds face Leicester.

“He is an outstanding player and someone we’ve been tracking for a very long time.

“We believe he has everything needed to fit into our way and adapt to the Premier League, both physically and mentally. He is a player who is hungry for success and knows you have to fight to get what you want. He is a fighter, no doubt. He’s a skilful team player who has always the goal in mind.

“This team deserved to add quality and when we played against Luis earlier this season, we saw what a danger he is, how fast he is and how his mentality was to help his team.

“Luis is a player we believe will make us better now and in the future. He is the player we really wanted and they’ve made it happen, so I am very happy.” – Jurgen Klopp

Diaz scored 14 goals and assisted a further five in 18 league appearances for the Portuguese giants this season.

This is by far his most productive season in Europe, having only found the back of the net on six occasions in the previous two campaigns with Porto.

The good news for Jota and his owners in FPL is that Diaz is a left-winger, so it’s Mane first and foremost who would appear to be chiefly under threat. The Senegal international could on occasion be deployed elsewhere in the front three, however, so the arrival of the new Colombian wide-man may still have a slight indirect effect on Jota’s expected minutes going forward.

We’ll have a proper, more detailed Scout Report on Diaz in the coming days.

…AND NEWCASTLE SIGN BRUNO

Another South American is set to make his Premier League debut in Gameweek 24 but this one will be of less interest to FPL managers.

Newcastle’s lavish January transfer window spending continued with the purchase of Bruno Guimaraes (£5.0m).

The Brazil international has signed from French side Olympique Lyonnais for a reported £35m up front, with additional bonuses due after that depending on player and team performance.

Why the 24-year-old Selecao star won’t be of much use to Fantasy managers is because he’s a defensive/deep-lying midfielder, with a record sheet that shows three goals, five assists and 10 bookings in 56 Ligue I appearances.

While Guimaraes will not himself be a key FPL target, the silky, ball-playing ‘number six’ is nevertheless a signing to consider when weighing up the appeal of the Magpies’ Fantasy defenders, who have been complete non-starters in 2021/22.

With Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier (£5.0m) on board and potentially Dan Burn (£4.4m) to follow, Eddie Howe’s rearguard ought to at least stand a better chance on paper of boosting their meagre clean sheet count.