Mohamed Salah has been included in a 23-man Liverpool squad for the first leg of their Europa League last-16 clash with Sparta Prague on Thursday night.
The 31-year-old has not featured for Jurgen Klopp's side since suffering his second muscular injury of the year in February's 4-1 win over Brentford, where he made his comeback from a previous hamstring issue.
Salah sustained his first injury of the year while representing Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, after which he immediately flew back to England for treatment but was brought off the bench at the Gtech Community Stadium earlier than planned due to Diogo Jota's knee injury.
Liverpool navigated the EFL Cup final without the services of Salah - as well as a multitude of other stricken players - but the winger was spotted back in team training with the Reds on Wednesday morning ahead of their trip to the Czech Republic.
Now, the Merseyside giants have confirmed that Salah is among 23 players to make the journey to Prague, and Klopp revealed that the attacker was "full of energy" in his pre-game press conference ahead of a possible comeback in midweek.
© Reuters
However, with a blockbuster top-of-the-table Premier League clash against Manchester City on the menu this weekend, the German has unsurprisingly urged caution over his fitness, and Salah is certainly not expected to start at epet Arena.
"Yeah, Mo travelled. He is with us, he trained two days, so full of energy. We have to see. But it is so good that he is back, that is really good for us and you can see in his face he is very happy," Klopp said.
"A very unlucky situation with being that long out and in for a moment, if you want, at Brentford, played an incredible game there and was out again. That's how it is.
"We want to be careful, we have to be careful, but in the middle of a super-intense period of the season we need everybody and now let's see how long we can use him. That's how it is with him and with others as well. Yeah, just good news."
Salah's return to the Liverpool squad could still spell bad news for the Reds, though, as the club requested to the Egyptian FA that the former Chelsea and Roma man be left at home during the international break in order to focus on his rehabilitation.
Mo Salah is included in our 23-man squad for the Europa League trip to Sparta Prague 👇
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 6, 2024
A member of the EFA board had affirmed that Salah will be called up if he plays for Liverpool before the March hiatus, but Klopp was loath to discuss the uncertainty surrounding his international situation.
"That is nothing to do [with me] really. That will be decided in different departments. No, nothing to do with that," Klopp added. "Let's see how long he can play now. As I said, two days in team training – so, in a different situation players are not in the squad in this moment, but in our situation it makes sense.
"What can we give him? How much can we use him? We will see that. And then there are two games with Egypt, but it's really not up to me or stuff like this, we are not really involved. That is discussed in other departments, let me say it like that."
Dominik Szoboszlai - who returned from his own hamstring injury in the weekend's win over Nottingham Forest - is also in the squad, but Jota, Joel Matip, Ben Doak, Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Thiago Alcantara, Curtis Jones, Stefan Bajcetic and Ryan Gravenberch remain out injured.
Liverpool topped Group E with 12 points from 18 to sail straight into the Europa League last 16, while Group C runners-up Sparta produced a mesmerising second-leg comeback against Champions League drop-outs Galatasaray in the knockout round playoffs.
No Data Analysis info
Germany
Switzerland
Hungary
Scotland
Spain
Italy
Albania
Croatia
England
Denmark
Slovenia
Serbia
Netherlands
France
Poland
Austria
Romania
Slovakia
Belgium
Ukraine
Czech Republic
Georgia
Portugal
Turkey