Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has said the Reds need to be ‘careful’ with Mohamed Salah’s return from injury, especially with a Premier League showdown against Manchester City coming up.
Salah, who is Liverpool’s top scorer, hasn’t started a game since New Year’s Day but might play in the Europa League match against Sparta Prague on Thursday. Salah has only played for 45 minutes since he scored two goals in a 4-2 win over Newcastle United on January 1. He picked up a muscle injury while playing for Egypt in the Africa Cup of Nations.
He was injured again in February’s 4-1 victory at Brentford and Liverpool have been carefully managing his comeback since then. Salah has travelled with the team to play Sparta Prague in the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday night. Klopp is happy to have him back but hinted that he might not play straight away, especially with Manchester City visiting Anfield on Sunday, reports the Liverpool Echo.
“Mo Salah has travelled,” Klopp said. “He is with us and has trained two days, he is full of energy, we have to see. But it is so good that he is back. It is really good and you can see it in his face.”
“It was a very unlikely situation being that long out and then came back against Brentford, played an incredible game and was then out again, so that is how it is.”
“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 everyone. So let’s see how long we can use him and these kinds of things. Yes, it’s just good news.”
With Salah regaining fitness, there could be a call-up for Egypt later this month. This is despite Liverpool expressing desire for him to sit out their match against New Zealand that’s set for March 22. Although Klopp acknowledges the ultimate decision isn’t his to make:
“That is nothing to do with us, really,” he added. “That will be decided by different departments. Let’s see how long he can play now. He has only been two days in team training. In a different situation players are not in the squad at this moment but now the situation makes sense.
“What can you give them? How much can you use them? And then these two games with Egypt, it is really not up to me. We’re not involved. You can discuss in other departments, let me say it like that.”
