Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Thiago Alcantara's long-awaited return to the team is imminent.
The summer signing from Bayern Munich featured just twice for the Reds before he suffered a knee injury in the 2-2 draw with Everton in October.
The Spanish midfielder has been missing ever since, but has stepped up his recovery recently and is thought to be nearing full fitness.
And speaking ahead of his side's game against Newcastle on Wednesday, Klopp suggested there could be a chance Thiago will be involved.
"Thiago has trained in part with the team so far, but on Friday (Christmas Day), he trained the full session," he said.
"But it was a reduced session so we couldn't do that [full session].
"He just has to be part of team training [more]. It's not about being part of team training one day and then you can play football in the Premier League.
"So it looks quite promising at the moment but I cannot say more about it, to be honest. I don't know.
"I think the plan was that if he trains [on Monday] completely normally then we will see."
The return of Thiago would come as a huge boost, with Liverpool fans yet to see the best of the player they splashed out £27m on in September.
The Reds will be desperate to get back to winning ways after they were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw with West Brom at the weekend.
And Klopp added: “We are not happy about drawing against West Brom, we are the opposite. But it is over, we cannot change that any more, we can just make sure in exactly the same situation, it does not happen again.
“But I do not know how the Newcastle game will be, the analysis will come and then I will know what we have to do there.”
