Mo Salah is in contention to play for Liverpool against Leicester on Thursday, confirms Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed Mohamed Salah could feature for the club in Thursday night’s Premier League visit of Leicester.

The Egyptian was on the losing side in the penalty shootout in Sunday’s Africa Cup of Nations final and did not take a spot kick as his side missed out on an eighth title in Yaounde.

Reds team-mate Sadio Mane was on the winning side though as Senegal claimed their first ever AFCON title thanks to his spot kick in the shootout, having missed one in normal time.

And Klopp has confirmed Salah – who was seen out on the training pitches at Kirkby – could make his first Liverpool appearance since January 2 against the Foxes, but that Mane will not be available for selection at Anfield. 

Asked specifically if Salah – who will be assessed by Reds medical staff this week – 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, 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!

‘He is an experienced player, he is a physical monster, to be honest, so we have to see. He will obviously have a little recovery session today and we will see how he feels tomorrow and from there we go.

‘The proper plan we don’t have, play him as often and as long as possible is probably the plan, but we will not rush it. But if he is fine we will not leave him out for the wrong reasons as well, so let’s see.’

On Mane, Klopp 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 in the moment because they deserve it.

‘They’ve had an incredibly intense time, so when he is back we will talk to him and we will see how we can use him.’

Salah received criticism from the likes of Jamie Carragher and Danny Murphy for the decision to take the fifth penalty in the shootout defeat by Senegal.

But after a rousing dressing room speech, he will now aim to pick up where he left off in Liverpool colours.

He will undergo some light training at Liverpool’s base in Kirkby on Tuesday afternoon and have some routine tests but providing no issues come to light, Salah will want to be included in the starting line-up on Thursday.

Virgil van Dijk appeared particularly excited by his return, repeating the words ‘he’s back’ in a social media post released by the club on Tuesday morning. 

Salah has scored 23 goals in 26 matches across all competitions so far this season, with his latest goal coming in the 2-2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Mane meanwhile has netted 10 goals in the same number of games, netting the other goal against Thomas Tuchel’s men before jetting off for international duty last month.