"He’ll have to be careful" - Alan Hutton says Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp 'will have to manage' Mohamed Salah properly after AFCON return

Former Premier League footballer Alan Hutton believes Jurgen Klopp will have to manage Mohamed Salah’s playing time at Liverpool after a grueling AFCON. Salah helped Egypt reach the AFCON final, but they fell at the final hurdle against Senegal on Sunday.

The Egyptian star has already returned to training with Liverpool. Klopp revealed in his pre-match press-conference that Salah might feature against Leicester City on Thursday.

Hutton explained that while Klopp would be glad to have Salah back, he needs to be careful over reintegrating the winger into the team.

“I bet you Jurgen Klopp’s absolutely buzzing. On the other side of it, he will know he’ll have to be careful. Salah has played a lot of football in a different country, with the pressure on his shoulders that he’s had to deal with. Being the captain of his nation and everything that went along with it.

“Klopp will have to manage him properly but of course he’ll be welcomed back with open arms. They are going for the league, as difficult as it might be. Wow, to have somebody of his quality back in the squad is excellent. He’ll be more than happy but he’ll just have to monitor him. Give him the extra day off here and there and maybe watch his minutes. He’ll be really happy to have him back,” Hutton told Football Insider.

Salah will hope to win some silverware with Liverpool

After the agony of missing out on lifting the AFCON with Egypt, Mohamed Salah will hope to win some silverware this season with Liverpool.

The Reds are still active in four competitions and are one win away from lifting the Carabao Cup later this month.

Salah, however, will have to be managed carefully by Jurgen Klopp. The Egyptian is one of the fittest players in the Premier League. However, he played seven games in less than a month for Egypt, and four of them went into extra time.

Liverpool showed their depth in Salah and Sadio Mane’s absence, and it’s likely that their starting lineup will once again be sans the African duo against Leicester this Thursday.