Jurgen Klopp has hinted at when Mohamed Salah will be back from his hamstring injury, with the Egyptian continuing his rehab after Egypt’s exit from AFCON.
With Egypt now out of the Africa Cup of Nations, an element of pressure on Salah’s recovery from the injury suffered earlier this month has been relieved.
That has understandably led to speculation over when the No. 11 would be back fit for his club, however, after his agent provided an early timeline of three to four weeks out.
Salah’s earliest return date, based on that diagnosis, would be the visit of Burnley in the Premier League on February 10.
But asked for an update in his pre-Chelsea press conference on Tuesday, Klopp suggested that his top goalscorer would not be in contention for that clash.
“He’s not ready for this game, not ready for the next game [against Arsenal]… and then not,” he said.
“So he’s injured. I’m not sure if there was a misunderstanding in the beginning. He’s injured and a muscle injury takes time.
“It could have been much worse, but he’s not available at the moment. He’s just doing his rehab.”
Salah flew back from the Ivory Coast to join Thiago in the treatment room of the AXA Training Centre, but the Spaniard has since made his long-awaited return to training.
Klopp used Thiago‘s agonising layoff – which began with hip surgery at the end of April – as an example for why questions on Salah’s situation are not helpful.
“It’s another one of these stories. There was no pressure in it, it’s the fact that you want to get fit as quick as possible anyway,” he explained.
“You cannot rush. If you could rush the healing process, believe me, Thiago wouldn’t have been out for 10 months, all the other guys would have been much quicker.
“It’s just not possible. You just do what you can do, and while you are doing that, from the outside we have to wait until they are ready.”
If Salah does indeed miss the Burnley game, his more likely return fixture would be the trip to Brentford on February 17.
