Jurgen Klopp has provided an update on the fitness of Thiago Alcantara, revealing he could return to full training with Liverpool next week.
The Spanish midfielder has been absent since the Merseyside derby against Everton in October, when he was on the receiving end of a horrendous tackle from Richarlison which resulted in a red card. He played on in that game but hasn't been seen since, with the injury worse than originally feared.
With Liverpool sitting top of the Premier League heading into the festive period and fixtures coming thick and fast, reports have suggested that the former Bayern man could be close to a return to action. Klopp was quick to dismiss that, but did reveal he is close to a return to training.
Klopp, however, was quick to dismiss that, but did reveal he is close to a return to training in his latest pre-match press conference (via Liverpool Echo).
"We already made jokes here that we should sign Thiago for January! He gets closer and closer and is in a good way but we will not rush it we cannot rush it and he will not because he is not allowed to rush it," the German said.
"But of course it's nice having him on the pitch training, doing a lot of stuff, but he was not in team training yet and that is actually the final step.
"We will see how it is. We get [a look] at him on the pitch and then next week, can he be in team training? I don't know at the moment 100 per cent, a few tests he has to pass until we make that decision."
Klopp also revealed that James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri are also close to a return to training following muscle injuries; the former having been taken off with a hamstring problem in the 1-1 draw with Brighton last month, while the latter was hurt in training.
"Hopefully that is not only for [Thiago] the case," he added. "With Milner it will be similar, with Shaq it will be similar."
Source : 90min