Egypt coach Shawky Gharib has recommended Chelsea's Egyptian attacking midfielder Mohamed Salah to leave the Blues if he continues to be stuck on the sidelines.

The 21-year-old, who joined Chelsea last January from Swiss side Basel, was dropped from Chelsea's squad in the English Premier League opener games.

"I am not worried about Salah's absence from Chelsea's squad as the season is still long," Gharib told a television programme on Sunday.

"I am confident he is training well as he lives a professional life in Chelsea.

"Salah faces tough competition with other players in his position at Chelsea, but if he was playing with [an Egyptian team] he would book a regular place," he added.

The Pharaohs' tactician believes the player should search for a space in any team's squad so he can keep up his level of performance.

"Salah should search for a regular place as Demba Ba did when he left Chelsea and joined Turkish side Besiktas.

"Drogba also took the same action when he left Chelsea and played in China and then returned to Chelsea again.

"Leaving Chelsea won't affect the player's future," he concluded.

The Egypt coach has included Chelsea's Salah in his squad of 12 foreign-based players who will join the team's preparations for the 2015 African Cup of Nations qualifiers games against Senegal and Tunisia.

Gharib, who won the CAN three times in a row (2006, 2008 and 2010) as an assistant to former coach Hassan Shehata, is bidding for a return to the championship in Morocco after the team missed the last two editions in 2012 and 2013 under American manager Bob Bradley.

In the 2015 CAN qualifiers, Egypt will play in Group G alongside Tunisia, Senegal and Botswana. They are scheduled to be hosted by the Senegalese team on 5 September in the qualifiers' opener.

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