Jurgen Klopp has hinted that he will leave Roberto Firmino out of his Liverpool squad to face Tottenham this weekend despite the Brazilian recently returning to training.
The 30-year-old hasn't featured for the Reds since a late substitute appearance in last month's FA Cup semi-final victory over Man City because of a foot injury, but was included in the travelling party to Spain for the midweek victory over Villarreal despite not being fit for the game.
Firmino has scored five goals from his last six games against Tottenham, however, despite his return to training, Klopp, who reported no new injuries, is not wanting to rush the forward back to action with Liverpool still chasing an unprecedented quadruple.
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"I don't know (if he'll play) but he's back in training so now we have to make a decision about that," the German told reporters. "The foot thing didn't let him do a lot, he had to let it settle.
"Now we have to make sure he has a few proper sessions. Obviously we have enough games still. It's very important we have to make sure we get him in the best possible shape.
"I didn't make a decision but it might be possible that for him it makes more sense to train through the weekend and be a big step closer for Tuesday but let's see. Yesterday in training he was great.
"I don't have my smartphone here and I get messages pretty late but when I watched it last time, yes (everyone else is okay)."
Despite scoring an impressive 11 goals from 31 appearances this season, the campaign has been a frustrating one for Firmino with the forward suffering from a number of injury lay-offs and finding his place in Klopp 's starting XI under threat as a result. But the January signing of Luis Diaz has helped ensure that Liverpool have rarely missed the Brazilian during the second half of the season.
And having seen the winger make a game-changing impact after coming on at half-time against Villarreal, Klopp shared his delight that the Reds were able to sign the Colombian in January when reflecting on his impact since signing.
"Unbelievable impact, it's clear. I think each squad in the world, there's enough space in each squad in the world for a world class player and that's what Luis is," he said. "That's why we were so desperate to get him and that's why we were so happy that we could have bought him. That makes all the difference.
"If you go through our games in the Champions League, when we played Porto he was still there. It's a really strange situation. And now he goes with us to the final, which is absolutely outstanding. You could see what he means to him.
"Having an outstanding player is good for every squad and is good for us, definitely. Not only because we had the African cup and the boys weren't here, but because of that as well.
"Thank god we made that decision because it helped everywhere. It's so much up to him, more than it is to other players maybe, because he communicates with everybody without really speaking the language.
"Okay, we have the Spanish faction and they are really close and they helped him so much. Thiago, Fab, Ali, Bobby, all these kind of guys. Adrian is great in this aspect.
"He's really close with Curtis, he's really close with Harvey. I have no idea how they talk to be honest. They are really close. On an emotional basis they are like this and they were after a week. It's really strange and it's up to him."
In contrast, Firmino's recent absence from Liverpool's matchday squad hasn't opened the door to Takumi Minamino, with the Japan international not featuring for the Reds since their FA Cup victory over Nottingham Forest in March.
And Klopp was apologetic to the forward for his lack of minutes, admitting the 27-year-old deserves more than his current spectator role.
"A fantastic boy, a fantastic footballer. It's one of the hardest things I have to do at the moment Taki is not involved and it's really hard," he said. "It's the last thing he deserves, not being involved. He trains incredible.
"Since Taki came here, he improved a lot and I like a lot the steps he's made. How he deals with setbacks is insane. The setbacks with not being involved from time to time, it's really hard.
"He never gives up, he always stays positive and he always goes for everything. He is a big part of the story of this team this year and last year."
