Egypt’s forward Mohamed Salah reacts after losing the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) 2021 final football match between Senegal and Egypt at Stade d’Olembe in Yaounde, February 6, 2022. – AFP pic
LONDON, Feb 8 – Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has put the disappointment of Egypt’s Africa Cup of Nations final loss behind him and returned to the Premier League club to prepare for Thursday’s match against Leicester City, manager Jurgen Klopp said today.
Salah’s Liverpool team mate Sadio Mane led Senegal to their first ever Africa Cup of Nations title on Sunday after beating seven-times winners Egypt 4-2 on penalties on Sunday in Cameroon.
While Mane has not returned after travelling to Senegal to celebrate the title, Klopp said Salah is in line for a return to the starting lineup when Leicester travel to Anfield.
“Mo is now back… He is very disappointed of course, but looking forward to all the things coming up here now,” Klopp told the club’s website.
“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.”
Mane is scheduled to return to Liverpool on Thursday. He scored the winning penalty for Senegal in the shootout and the team received a hero’s welcome when they returned to Senegal yesterday.
“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,” Klopp added.
“We would never consider to have called back him from there… let them do what they do in the moment because they deserve it.”
Liverpool are second in the standings, nine points behind leaders Manchester City. Leicester are 10th. – Reuters