Sadio Mané Returns to Full Training

It was the second day of November in this year of perpetual suffering, 2017. But lo! The birds chirped happily, there was a merry breeze in the air, and Sadio Mané took part in his first full session at Melwood since he damaged his hamstring last month.

Mané was expected to be out for six weeks with the injury he sustained on international duty (boo!) but has been recovering rapidly and made his appearance in training two weeks ahead of schedule. Mané has been sidelined for the past five matches and won’t be back for Saturday’s trip to West Ham, but will likely return for Liverpool’s match against his former club, Southampton, on November 18.

The international break between Saturday and November 18 may prove interesting however, with Mané named on the Senegal squad that will face South Africa on November 10. The squad was named when Mané was still injured, and it’s still not clear if the player will be fit enough to make the trip to Polokwane, let alone play.

Klopp, in his most recent conversation on Adam Lallana and Mané’s fitness, didn’t make any mention of the latter joining the Senegalese national team for the World Cup qualifier replay (the referee in the initial game awarded a penalty for a handball that never was and has since been banned for life for match fixing).

“After the international break, I think Adam and Sadio are back,” Klopp told the club’s official website. “It will be close, so hopefully they can train during the international break and be part of the normal training.”

Either way, we’ll be counting down the days until Mané (and Lallana) are back.