Mohamed Salah could return to team training with Liverpool next week after suffering a hamstring injury while representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, Jurgen Klopp has revealed.
Salah had to leave the Egypt camp after being forced out of the Pharaohs’ 2-2 draw with Ghana in their second group-stage game last month.
It was initially thought that Salah may return to the tournament if Egypt went all the way, but with his nation suffering a disappointing last-16 exit against DR Congo, the winger remained on Merseyside to complete his rehabilitation.
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Liverpool are eager to have Salah back for a busy period, with Premier League fixtures against Burnley, Brentford and Luton Town to come before they face Chelsea in the EFL Cup final on February 25.
While Saturday’s meeting with the Clarets will come too soon for the winger, Klopp is positive regarding his chances of returning to action soon.
“He’s going in the right direction,” Klopp said of Salah. “We hope – but we don’t know – that he can be a part of training next week, but we have to see.
“He is going through all the paces now, but look, it’s positive. It’s either next week or the week after. If you ask him, it’s next week.”
Jürgen Klopp provided updates on the fitness of Thiago Alcantara, Mohamed Salah, and Dominik Szoboszlai during his #LIVBUR press conference:
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) FEBRUARY 9, 2024
Liverpool will have midfielder Wataru Endo available on Saturday following Japan’s quarter-final defeat to Iran at the Asian Cup, but Klopp has other selection issues to deal with.
The German revealed at Friday’s press conference that several Reds players are suffering from flu-like symptoms and must be assessed, while Thiago Alcantara is out after sustaining a muscle injury in last week’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal.
“Endo is available and that’s good, but besides that we have a few problems. Thiago is not good, it’s not cool,” Klopp said.
Have a great birthday, Wataru 🥳 PIC.TWITTER.COM/4JCVHVGTEZ
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) FEBRUARY 9, 2024
“Everything looked absolutely fantastic in training, he looked outstanding. We thought we’d take him and use the opportunity for him to play a few minutes, then yeah… it’s a muscle injury.
“We don’t yet know the extent of it, we have to wait a little bit, but it’s not good news for him, for us or for anybody. On top of losing the game, having that was not good.
“We just have to get the full assessment done and trust our procedure. It’s not a big, big injury, definitely not. But it’s something nobody needed.”
Right-back Conor Bradley will not return to the fold until next week at the earliest following the death of his father, while Klopp was unable to put a timeline on Dominik Szoboszlai’s recovery with the Hungarian battling a hamstring issue.
“Dom is running outside at the moment. He’s not ready for tomorrow, of course not, but then we have to wait and see,” Klopp added.
“It’s pretty much what he had before. It’s really not good that he got it again, and now we are fighting for days. Is it Brentford? Is it the [EFL Cup] final? I really don’t know.”
