Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Mohamed Salah has recovered from injury and will be available to face Manchester City in Sunday’s huge Premier League title clash at Anfield.
The Egypt international was struck down during the Africa Cup of Nations, missing the rest of the tournament with a hamstring problem after playing in his side’s first two group-stage games.
He made a brief return as a second-half substitute in the 4-1 win at Brentford in mid-January but hasn’t played since. However, while Klopp admitted he wouldn’t usually rush a player back too quickly, the German pointed to his side’s injury crisis during a crucial point of the season.
“He is with us and has trained two days, he is full of energy, we have to see. But it is so good that he is back. It is really good and you can see he is happy,” Klopp said ahead of Liverpool’s first leg against Sparta Prague in the Europa League last 16.
“It’s an unusual situation being that long out and then he came back against Brentford, played an incredible game and was then out again.
“Two days in team training: in a different situation players are not in the squad in this moment but now the situation makes sense.
“We want to be careful, we have to be careful but we’re in the middle of a super-intense period of the season and we need everyone.
“So let’s see how long we can use him and these kinds of things. Yes, it’s just good news.”
While Salah is set to return this weekend, Liverpool remain without a bunch of key performers. The likes of Alisson, Diogo Jota, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Ryan Gravenberch are out of Thursday night’s trip to Czechia and won’t return before March’s international break, while Stefan Bajcetic and Thiago are also out of action.
There is also concern on Merseyside that Salah will be picked by Egypt for their upcoming fixtures in the 2024 Winsunited Cup, with the nation’s FA insisting they have the “right to include any professional player” they desire.
Klopp added: “Let’s see how long he [Salah] can play.
“Two games with Egypt is really not up to me – we are not really involved. It is discussed with other departments.”
READ ALL THE NEWS AND BUILDUP TO SUNDAYS’S HUGE CLASH BETWEEN LIVERPOOL AND MAN CITY