Liverpool could lose 18 players this summer as Arne Slot faces anxious wait

There will be no rest for many members of the Liverpool first-team squad this summer as players prepare to represent their respective countries at international tournaments.

The first of those will be the European Championships in Germany, which will start on June 14 and last for one month. Copa America will also be staged this summer, offering the Reds’ South American contingent the chance to compete for silverware.

But which players will Liverpool lose as they will be jetting off with their national team this summer and who will be based on Merseyside, ready for working with new manager Arne Slot?

We have rounded up the key details, below.

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EURO 2024

Some countries have announced their official teams for the Euros, with others choosing to name a preliminary squad of players which will be cut down by the deadline for submitting squads (June 7).

Ibrahima Konate (France), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Dominik Szoboszlai (Hungary), Cody Gakpo, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch (Netherlands) will all be competing in Germany after being named in final squads.

Andy Robertson and Ben Doak are both in the provisional Scotland squad, the same also applying to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jarell Quansah, Curtis Jones and Joe Gomez for England and Vitezslav Jaros for Czechia.

Robertson and Alexander-Arnold seem certainties to make the list, though Doak, Quansah, Jones and Gomez could all be considered at risk of not being there. Jaros, due to his position as a goalkeeper, is likely to be involved.

Copa America

Starting the week after the Euros, on June 21, Liverpool are set to have four players in action at Copa America, which will be hosted in the United States.

Alisson Becker is unsurprisingly part of the Brazil setup and will compete for a starting spot alongside Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson. Luis Diaz has been included in Colombia’s provisional squad, as has Alexis Mac Allister with Argentina.

Uruguay are yet to announce their team, but Darwin Nunez is certain to be involved.

Olympic Games

Coming around only once every four years, footballers can compete for medals in the football category of the Olympic Games.
This opportunity will present itself to both Mohamed Salah (Egypt) and Wataru Endo (Japan) this summer between July 24 and August 10. Salah was left out of Egypt’s squad for the last Olympic Games in 2021, though is likely to be involved this time around.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) president Gamal Allam has already confirmed the 31-year-old wants to be present in Paris for their group stage games with Spain and the Dominican Republic in Group C, telling France24: “Salah wants to play with the Olympic team and he will be there. Rogero Micale [U-23 national team head coach] will soon announce the names of the three overage players participating in the Olympics.”

Offering his own thoughts, under-23s coach Micale added: “We have 10 names under consideration, and we will choose three players from them. We have some shortcomings that need to be taken into account in the final selection. Negotiations with foreign clubs are lengthy to allow their players to join us at the Olympics, and we hope that those selected will get approval from their clubs.

“We are still awaiting the outcome of communication with Salah and his club through the Egyptian Football Association. We definitely want him with us. I wish Salah could play with us at the Olympics.”

Endo took part in the 2021 Olympic Games, which was delayed by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and narrowly missed out on a bronze medal after losing to Mexico in a third-place play-off match.

Stefan Bajcetic, in theory, could represent Spain though this seems unlikely to occur on the back of his lengthy spell on the sidelines this season.