Jürgen Klopp has labelled the switch of the 2021 African Cup Nations Cup from summer to January a “catastrophe” to continue his complaints against football’s global calendar.

Liverpool would lose three leading players in Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah and Naby Këita for the African tournament, now set to run from 9 January to 6 February next year, having been previously scheduled for July.

Cameroon confirms 2021 Africa Cup of Nations will be played in January Read more

The switch was made back to Cup of Nations’ traditional winter slot after concerns over the summer climate in Cameroon, where the African tournament is set to be hosted, and a clash with an expanded Fifa Club World Cup, now moved to the summer. Liverpool and their rivals will lose African players for up to six weeks, including pre-tournament preparations.

Klopp suggested the rescheduling might also affect Liverpool’s future transfer policy. Should the African tournament be staged in January in 2023, it would almost immediately follow the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, itself staged midway through the 2022-23 European domestic season.

“The African Cup of Nations going back to January is, for us, a catastrophe,” he said. “We will not sell Sadio, Mo or Naby now because they have a tournament in January and February – of course not. But if you have to make a decision about bringing in a player, it is a massive one because before the season you know for four weeks you don’t have them. That’s a normal process and as a club you have to think about these things.”

Klopp was a vocal critic of English football’s festive calendar, which followed his having to field a weakened, youthful team in a defeat at Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals in December the day before his senior teamplayedat the Fifa Club World Cup. He admitted his complaints were unlikely to change thinking. “It is like the biggest waste of time ever. ‘The Moaner from Liverpool’ or whatever is again on track,” he said. “As long as nothing changes I will say it all the time. It is because it is about the players, not one second about me.

The Fiver: sign up and get our daily football email.

“There are so many things to sort but all these guys never find time to sit around one table and make a general schedule. All these different games to play and no break for the players. Let’s respect that, but if you have that break don’t make a replay in this break. This would help massively.”

Klopp pinpointed the serious hamstring injury suffered by the Tottenham striker Harry Kane as evidence of the adverse effects of a heavy workload. He said: “I feel massively for Harry Kane, I now hear he may not be in the Euros. For the first time some English people in the FA may think: ‘Oh, too many games maybe.’ Something has to happen for them to really start thinking about it.”