Liverpool have issued an update on the fitness of midfielder Naby Keita who picked up an injury which brought his Africa Cup of Nations campaign to an abrupt end.
Thankfully, the Reds have released a positive statement regarding the 24-year-old who suffered a minor adductor strain while representing his home country, Guinea.
Keita returned to the club's training ground, Melwood, for examination by the club's medical team. They expect him to be fit to begin pre-season training later this month.
Guinea are due to play Algeria in the AFCON Round of 16 tomorrow evening, having progressed through the group stages with a third-place finish.
Jurgen Klopp secured Keita's signature from Red Bull Leipzig of the Bundesliga at the beginning of last season for a club record fee at the time. The midfielder took the infamous number eight shirt previously belonging to club legend, Steven Gerrard .
The deal was not entirely straight forward however, with Liverpool seeing two bids rejected before finally striking an agreement with the German club.
Having initially been agreed in August 2017, Leipzig wanted to retain Keita for one more season before allowing him to leave for Merseyside in July 2018.
Quickly, the Guinean became popular at Anfield. He made his debut in the 4-0 win over West Ham United on the opening day of the 2018/19 campaign and was named Man of the Match, before going on to make 33 appearances of which 22 were starts.
Further achievements during his first season include scoring Liverpool's fastest Premier League goal, which came after fifteen seconds at home to Huddersfield Town at the end of April.
Sadly, he picked up an injury during the Champions League semi-final first-leg at Barcelona . However, he was in Madrid to collect his winner's medal in June.
Liverpool fans will be hoping Keita makes a swift return to fitness with the Reds facing Manchester City in the Community Shield on August 4th, before kicking-off the new Premier League season against newly-promoted Norwich City at Anfield on August 9th.
