SALAH INJURY LATEST
Liverpool confirmed on Monday night that Mohamed Salah‘s (£13.1m) injury is “worse than first feared”.
Earlier in the evening, the winger’s agent, Ramy Abbas Issa, had said that Salah could be out for up to four weeks.
“Mohamed’s injury is more serious than first thought and he will be out for 21-28 days, and not two [Africa Cup of Nations] games. His best chance at participating in the current AFCON is by undergoing intensive rehabilitation in the UK and rejoining the team as soon as he is fit.” – Ramy Abbas Issa
The Reds then backed up much of what Issa said, albeit without putting a timeframe on his return.
“Mohamed Salah will return to the AXA Training Centre on Wednesday to begin an intensive rehabilitation programme with Liverpool’s medical team on the muscle injury he sustained with Egypt last week.
“The injury, which is worse than first feared, forced the forward from the field in the first half of the Africa Cup of Nations fixture with Ghana and an agreement has been reached with the Egyptian FA for Salah to undergo treatment in Liverpool.
“Salah will immediately begin work with the club’s medical staff upon his return to Merseyside with a view to being back in action as soon as possible for club and country, giving him the best chance to return to compete at AFCON if Egypt, who qualified for the knockout stage with a 2-2 draw against Cape Verde tonight, continue to advance in the tournament.” – Liverpool statement on Mohamed Salah
Interestingly, both club and agent mention about giving Salah “the best chance” of returning to Ivory Coast. The final of AFCON, should Egypt even get there, is in just 19 days.
If Salah is out for 28 days, as suggested, that would render him a concern for Gameweek 25. There is a suggestion that Liverpool could ‘double’ then, as their Gameweek 26 clash with Luton Town will need a new date should Jurgen Klopp’s side progress to the EFL Cup final this week.
Any Fantasy manager still holding Salah will now likely have their commitment to keeping the Egypt international challenged anew.
HAALAND SIGHTED IN TRAINING
At around the same time on Monday night, Erling Haaland (£13.9m) took to social media to provide a positive update on his recovery.
Haaland, who has been out for six weeks with a foot injury, posted a picture of himself on the grass at Manchester City’s warm-weather training camp in Abu Dhabi.
The Times reports that the Norwegian striker completed a full team training session “without suffering any pain to his foot”.
The newspaper goes on to say that Haaland is “unlikely” to face Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup on Friday but “could come into Pep Guardiola’s thinking” for the clash with Burnley in Gameweek 22.
We’ve had a few false dawns with the Norway international over the last month, of course, so there’ll be a healthy degree of skepticism over whether this sighting will indeed herald Haaland’s playing return.
