Mohamed Salah returned to training on Wednesday and is part of Liverpool’s travelling squad to Prague, but Jurgen Klopp remained coy on his level of involvement on Thursday.
The Egyptian missed the last four matches after a setback on return from a hamstring injury, but his return to the squad signals the end of another wait for his comeback.
With Man City’s visit only days away, Salah has timed his return perfectly, and Klopp offered a brief update on his No. 11 after his inclusion for Thursday’s Europa League tie.
“He’s with us, trained for two days so full of energy, we have to see,” Klopp said of the 31-year-old. “It’s so good that he’s back, really good for us. You can see on his face, he’s very happy.
“Very unlikely situation with being that long out, in for a moment at Brentford – played an incredibly game there – and out again.
“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 everybody.
“Let’s see how long we can use him, that’s how it is with him and others as well. Just good news.”
Salah’s comeback comes at a time when Egypt insist he will be called up for their international friendly later this month if he plays any minutes for Liverpool, despite the club asking for him to be exempt.
Klopp insisted the decision is out of his hands, but there is a clear desire for Salah to be correctly managed after a rare spell on the sidelines.
“That will be decided in a different department, let’s see how long he can play now,” Klopp said of Salah’s upcoming involvement with Egypt.
“Only two days in team training, in a different situation, players are not in the squad in this moment.
“In our situation it makes sense, what can we give him and how much we can use him. We will see.
“Two games with Egypt, it is not up to me, we are not really involved. This is discussed in other departments.”
The Reds face Sparta Prague at the earlier time of 5.45pm (UK) on Thursday evening, and we can at least expect to see Salah come off the bench before Liverpool turn their attention to Man City on Sunday.
