Ipswich Town midfielder Sam Morsy has been called up by Egypt for two World Cup qualifiers next month.

The new signing, who arrived from Middlesbrough on transfer deadline day, last played for his country in 2018 and will be hoping to add to his seven international caps in the two games against Libya on October 8 and 11.

Morsy has been called up by new Egypt boss Carlos Queiroz – Sir Alex Ferguson’s former Manchester United assistant – as part of a provisional foreign-based list, prior to the full squad announcement on September 26. That list is headed by Liverpool’s Mo Salah and Mohamed Elneny of Arsenal.

The Ipswich Town midfielder responded to the news by tweeting: “Can’t wait to be back. Dream come true.”

International football has been complicated by travel restrictions caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with the Premier League and EFL recently standing as one to block call-ups for games played in red list countries.

Town striker Macauley Bonne was named in Zimbabwe’s squad for games at the beginning of September but did not ultimately join up with his national team, with those games played in red list countries.

Egypt is due to move to the UK government’s amber list later this week meaning, in theory, Morsy will be free to join up with his country. If he is ultimately called up he would be absent for Town’s Papa John’s Trophy clash with Gillingham on October 5 and then the game with Shrewsbury the following Saturday.

Further international games are scheduled for the November break, meaning Morsy could again be absent, while Egypt have also qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which runs from January 9 to February 8.

Morsy has yet to make his league debut for Town as he serves out a three-match ban, picked up following a red card in his final Middlesbrough appearance. He will miss this weekend’s clash with Sheffield Wednesday but will be free to make his debut when Doncaster visit on September 28.

He did feature in the Blues’ 2-1 loss to West Ham Under 21s in the Papa John’s Trophy, with games in that tournament not counting towards his ban.

Egypt's foreign-based players: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Ahmed Hassan Kouka (Konyaspor), Mostafa Mohamed (Galatasaray), Sam Morsy (Ipswich Town), Omar Marmoush (VfB Stuttgart), Ahmed Yasser Rayan (Altay SK), and Karim Hafez (Yeni Malatyaspor).