Striker Mohamed Salah, injured in a thigh with Egypt in January, has returned to training with Liverpool and could play again soon, his coach Jürgen Klopp announced on Friday, on the eve of a trip to Brentford.
“Mo is back in training, this automatically puts him in the running (to rejoin the competitive team, editor’s note),” declared the boss of the Reds, leaders of the English championship before the 25th day.
Klopp did not specify whether the winger would be able to participate in the match on Saturday (1:30 p.m.) at Brentford, even if only as a substitute.
Salah, captain and star player of Egypt, injured his hamstring against Ghana on January 18 in the group stage of the African Cup of Nations.
The return of the striker would be a major reinforcement for Liverpool in the fight for the title, while Manchester City (with one more match to play) and Arsenal are hot on the heels of the Reds with two points less.
Conversely, Klopp will have to manage the next matches, and probably the League Cup final against Chelsea on February 25, without his right back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has a knee injury again.
The coach denied having rushed the return of the England international. “Since I have been here, we have never forced anyone to play again,” he assured at a press conference. “The final decision always rests with the player.”
“We always try to seize the earliest moment” for a return to competition, but without “never” rushing it, he said. And when it works, “no one talks about it,” he added, citing recent examples involving Alexis Mac Allister and Diogo Jota.
