Liverpool face the prospect of losing Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita midway through the 2021/22 season.
That is because the respected countries of all three have now qualified for the upcoming African Cup of Nations in Cameroon.
Originally planned to be held in January 2021, the tournament was pushed back 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And with Salah, Mane and Keita all key men for their respective nations, they are highly likely to feature in the competition, leaving them unavailable to Jurgen Klopp.
Salah’s Egypt qualified for the tournament following their 1-1 draw away to Kenya on Thursday afternoon.
The result puts Egypt top of Group G, with neither Kenya or Togo now in a position to catch them or Comoros.
Keita’s Guinea secured their place in the competition on Wednesday with a 1-0 win over Mali, while Mane's Senegal had already qualified prior to the March international break.
Time-frames for AFCON were initially pencilled in for the summer in Cameroon, but the country's climate during June and July forced the Confederation of African Football into a re-think.
The competition will begin in early January and conclude at the start of February, potentially leaving Europe-based African stars away from domestic action for half-a-dozen games.
With June and July expected to be hit by torrential downpours in Cameroon, the decision to bring the tournament forward to January and February was taken after discussions.
"We have reviewed the period of the competition as requested by the Cameroonian party due to unfavourable climatic conditions during the period initially slated," CAF deputy general secretary Tony Baffoe said back in January 2020.
"After listening to the various arguments and viewpoints, and in particular from the Cameroonian meteorological authorities, the coaches and players; the representatives of the AFCON organising committee, which received the mandate from CAF Executive Committee to take the decision, has granted this request.”
Liverpool were without Mane for seven games during the 2016/17 campaign, with the forward absent for the majority of January as he represented Senegal in Gabon.
