Jurgen Klopp admits Mohamed Salah injury has been ‘especially difficult’ after Liverpool return

Mohamed Salah returns from injury having missed eight Liverpool matches after departing for the African Cup of Nations

Jurgen Klopp has dismissed any suggestion Liverpool are rushing Mohamed Salah back into action, as he revealed the difficulty the forward suffered during his time on the sidelines.

Salah is in contention to feature in Saturday’s Premier League lunchtime clash at Brentford, having returned to full training earlier this week following a hamstring complaint.

The 31-year-old has missed the Reds’ last eight games, initially due to international duty with Egypt at the African Cup of Nations and then with the injury sustained while featuring in the tournament.

Liverpool have suffered several injury blows in recent weeks, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai aggravating existing problems and Thiago Alcantara picking up a fresh issue on his long-awaited return after more than nine months out.

Klopp, though, is convinced the Reds have been patient with Salah’s recovery and believes the forward is “on fire” as he waits for his first Liverpool outing since January 1.

“I’m over the moon that Mo is training, and he looks really sharp,” said the Liverpool boss. “Obviously, he missed football a lot. It’s probably the longest period he has been out for a long, long time—at least since he’s been here.

“So it was a really strange situation for him and for us to play without him for that long. Thank God the boys did the job, but having him available is a massive boost, on and off the pitch, definitely.

“It’s nothing to do with the numbers he produces, just his personality and the guy he is. He is on fire. He wants to get started immediately, so let’s see. It’s all good.

“Obviously, when you have two re-injuries and the next one (Salah) is coming back, you have to definitely not be too early. But we are not too early with him; everyone is convinced about that, so we can go for it.”

Salah had scored 18 goals and contributed nine assists in 27 appearances for Liverpool before his absence, which is the longest of his Anfield career since arriving in the summer of 2017.

The fact that he returned to Merseyside for treatment rather than stay with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast was criticised by several observers in his homeland who were sceptical Salah would be allowed to return to the squad should he recover from injury in time for the final.

In any case, the Pharaohs were eliminated in the round of 16, with the forward still not fully fit when the final took place last weekend.

And asked how Salah coped with his spell on the sidelines, Klopp said, “It’s been difficult. In the beginning, it was especially difficult because of all the discussions in Egypt; he was injured, not making it up, or whatever. The first time everybody believed it was the moment he didn’t play for us and thought, ‘Oh, it seems to be really bad’.

“Until then, I can’t imagine what it’s like for a guy who’s always available, and then for once you’re not available and everybody’s crying that you should be available. Sorry, he’s still human.

“But that’s already three or four weeks ago. Remember when we spoke about it? If Egypt had reached the final, he might have had a chance, but he wouldn’t have had a chance, which we didn’t know in that moment. Now he’s back, so that’s good and definitely for him; it’s a real challenge.

“But he’s the most professional player I’ve ever met. He dealt workload-wise really well with it; he used it. Let’s see what he produces now.”

Klopp is expected to once again rotate heavily for the trip to Brentford, with Ibrahima Konate having served a one-match suspension, Joe Gomez recovering from the flu, and Conor Bradley back available after compassionate leave. However, Alisson Becker is out with a hamstring problem he suffered in training, joining Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak, and Joel Matip on the sidelines.

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