After suffering defeat in the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday night, Mohamed Salah is keen to quickly return to Liverpool training on Tuesday morning.
Egypt came within touching distance of the trophy but were beaten 4-2 on penalties by Senegal following a 0-0 draw after extra time.
Salah did not step up and take a spot-kick in the shootout as he was the fifth penalty taker for his country.
The winger was shown in floods of tears on the Olembe Stadium pitch as the Senegal team celebrated their success, with Sadio Mane then spotted comforting his teammate not too long after.
Have Your Say! Should Jurgen Klopp rest Mohamed Salah against Leicester City? Comment here.
But rather than dwell on the defeat, Salah has informed Liverpool that he has every intention of being at the club’s training base on Tuesday so that he will be ready for selection in the crucial clash against Leicester City on Thursday night, according to The Times.
Though before Jurgen Klopp makes concrete plans about starting the 29-year-old, the Reds’ medical team are expected to thoroughly assess whether the former Chelsea star is able to compete against the Foxes.
All of Egypt’s knockout games went to extra time at AFCON, meaning that Salah has played 749 minutes of football since leaving England in early January and that will, of course, have taken some sort of toll on his condition.
Klopp’s side have coped with the absence of Salah and Mane remarkably well, winning five games without the pair and drawing once – progressing into the Carabao Cup during that time.
Fringe players stepped up in the absence of the formidable pairing, with Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota shouldering a lot of the goal scoring weight.
But with the pair now soon to be back, closing the nine-point gap on league leaders Manchester City whilst also winning a cup competition will feel well within reach.
However, it remains to be seen how much longer Liverpool fans will be singing Salah’s name at Anfield as the winger is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal, with talks dragging out over the past few months.
Speaking to ITV about the matter, former Manchester United star Roy Keane said: “He’s 29 but the modern player, they’re machines I don’t think it’s no issue. From Liverpool’s point of view, it’s business they’ve got to try and negotiate.
"You’ve got to get him signed on, he’s one of the greatest players in the world, you’ve got to get it done. If it goes into next season you really start to worry but try and get it done and dusted.
"They might not have a choice, it’s up to the player, the player’s in charge he said he’s happy and he’s obviously going to try and negotiate a bit of steel but he’s going to to get a lot of money anyway.
"It might be because he wants a new experience. But he’s said a number of times he’s happy here, he’s loved here, but Liverpool have got to try and get him signed you can’t just let players like that go out of the door, particularly on a free."
It remains to be seen whether Salah and Mane will feature against Leicester, with the latter set to meet the Senegalese president Macky Sall on Tuesday before making a desperate attempt to return to England in time, or if Klopp will rest the pair ahead of a busy few weeks.
