Naby Keita returned to individual training earlier this week and Jurgen Klopp has now revealed that the Guinea international should be back in action before the World Cup.
Liverpool have seven games to play before the tournament kicks off in Qatar on Sunday 20 November and the No. 8 will be hungry to gain as many minutes as possible.
The former RB Leipzig man has been sidelined with a hamstring injury since August and has yet to play a single minute for the German side this term, but the former Borussia Dortmund tactician has now provided an update on the physical condition of the 27-year-old.
“No, before,” the 55-year-old replied when asked if we will see Keita in action again after the World Cup. “The football part of his preseason starts, physically, he could probably run a full marathon when he starts on Monday, but that doesn’t help because he needs to make other moves.
“As long as we can give the guys time to fully recover and be as fit as possible, we always try to do that.
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“The problem is when we start the season with injuries and the guys who come back many times have to play too soon because there are no other options. In this case, we hope to be able to do that and give him time until he can play.
“But maybe next week I’ll tell you that Naby Keita starts, I don’t know, we’ll see.”
There were reports that the midfielder was unhappy with his current situation at Anfield and was far from happy with the amount of game time he received recently.
If those rumors are true, it is quite disconcerting how the Premier League winner can be unhappy with his playing time when you consider that he has missed 84 games for Liverpool through injury since joining the club in 2018.
When he arrived on Merseyside, many had high hopes for the Guinean, but it’s fair to say he hasn’t lived up to those high expectations.
He has shown glimpses of his potential but has found it very difficult to secure a regular starting spot at full-back.
Speculation surrounding our No. 8’s current deal continues with reports suggesting he won’t consider contract talks until January.
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