Jurgen Klopp is prepared to allow Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to attend an awards ceremony in Africa just 24 hours before the FA Cup showdown with Everton at Anfield.

The Reds’ star duo have been named on the three-man shortlist for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Player of the Year award.

The ceremony takes place in Accra, Ghana on Thursday, January 4, the day before Liverpool take on the Blues in a third round tie.

Salah and Mane are both keen to be in attendance at the prestigious awards and Klopp is prepared to sanction the whistle-stop 7,000-mile round trip.

The ECHO understands that plans are currently being put in place to hire a private plane to get them to Accra and back to Merseyside prior to the meeting with Sam Allardyce’s side.

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A seven-hour flight is not ideal preparation for such a highly-charged fixture, but Salah and Mane will return on the morning of the match and will be available for selection for the Friday night contest which kicks off at 7.55pm.

Salah and Mane are joined on the shortlist by Borussia Dortmund striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Salah has already won the 2017 BBC African Footballer of the Year award and is the favourite to make it a double triumph.

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The 25-year-old has enjoyed a year to cherish - shining for Roma, firing Egypt to their first World Cup for 28 years and enjoying a breathtaking start to his Liverpool career with 20 goals in just 26 appearances.