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He’s been to Paris and seen the sights, but now Mohamed Salah is back on Merseyside with a valid work permit in hand, free to make his first appearance since signing for Liverpool last month from Roma in a £36M deal.
His longer-term availability had never been in doubt, but immigration procedure meant having to leave the country and return for his updated visa to become valid, and that meant he was unable to make his debut on Wednesday against Tranmere.
The games may not especially matter at this stage beyond a chance to gain fitness and develop a greater comfort level with teammates and Jürgen Klopp’s tactics, still, it was disappointing not to get to see Salah make his bow in red.
That will change tomorrow when Liverpool head to the DW Stadium to take on Wigan in their second friendly of the summer, and it will be interesting to see how the first half lineup—likely, as against Tranmere, to be more experienced than the second half lineup—changes as a result.
It could be that Salah will come straight in for Sheyi Ojo on the right wing, though with the youngster impressing on Wednesday it seems equally likely his arrival could lead to Roberto Firmino heading up top to take on the false nine role he’s expected to play in most often this season.