Salah could return against Leicester City, says Jurgen Klopp

London, Feb. 8 (IANS): Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Mohamed Salah could feature in the match against Leicester City on Thursday. Salah will be assessed by the club’s medical staff, however, Sadio Mane will not be considered for action against Leicester after returning to Senegal to celebrate their triumph in Sunday’s AFCON final.

Asked specifically if Salah could be involved against Leicester, Klopp replied, “Yes, yes. Sadio no chance as he’s not even here, but Mo yes.”

“Mo is now back, I spoke already to him. He is very disappointed of course (as Egypt lost the final), but looking forward to all the things coming up here now. I spoke to him and pretty much the first thing Mo told me was: ‘I’m ready.’ Haha!,” Klopp was quoted as saying by Liverpoolfc.com.

“He is an experienced player. He will obviously have a little recovery session today and we will see how he feels tomorrow and from there “e go,” he added.

“Sadio flies out if it’s possible on Wednesday night, so will arrive here on Thursday but he is, of course, then not involved in the Leicester game. It means the world to him, it means the world to his people, it means the world to Senegal and we respect that a lot and we would never consider to have called back him from there or whatever — let them do what they do at the moment because they deserve it,” he said.

Salah and Mane went head-to-head for their respective nations in Sunday’s AFCON final, with Senegal prevailing on penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. “It was a strange game to watch, to be honest, from an emotional point of view,” Klopp reflected. “I obviously wish them the best, the very best, in absolutely everything [but] it was not possible in this game.

“I think both played a great tournament. The responsibility on their shoulders is absolutely huge and the pressure on their shoulders is absolutely insane, I don’t even have an idea how it must feel in these moments, they carry pretty much a whole country,” he said.