Sadio Mané is a major doubt for Liverpool’s trip to Burnley on Saturday following tests on a hurt shoulder, but the forward has given Jürgen Klopp a boost as the injury is a muscle problem rather than the dislocation that had been initially feared.
Mané will be monitored by the club’s medical department and Klopp is expected to address the issue during his weekly media briefing on Thursday at the club’s training ground. The forward has only an outside chance of being fit for the squad for Burnley, it is understood. The 24-year-old had given the manager a major injury scare after he damaged the shoulder during training on Wednesday morning, and was taken to hospital to undergo checks.
Mané sustained the problem in a collision during a session at the club’s Melwood complex and was taken to the Spire Liverpool hospital immediately.
The Senegalese was Klopp’s marquee signing of the summer after costing £30m from Southampton so if he had sustained a serious injury it would have represented a considerable blow to the manager after Liverpool’s flying start to the campaign.
Mané enjoyed a successful debut on Sunday, playing the full 90 minutes of Liverpool’s 4-3 victory at Arsenal, the 24-year-old scoring a fine individual goal after 63 minutes.
The relief felt regarding the nature of Mané’s injury follows the bad fortune Klopp has endured this summer with other players he has signed.
The manager had recruited Loris Karius to replace Simon Mignolet as the team’s new No1 but the German goalkeeper broke a bone in his hand in July, ruling him out for two months. The Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic was also absent from some warm-up games due to concussion, Joel Matip injured a foot and the Cameroon defender was only an unused substitute at the Emirates Stadium.
However, although Mané is a doubt for Saturday’s match at Turf Moor, Klopp does have Daniel Sturridge available this weekend after the England striker recovered from a minor hip injury.
James Milner is also back in training and the vice-captain may be used at left-back given Alberto Moreno’s continuing struggles in the position. The 24-year-old Spaniard was again shaky in the victory over Arsenal, conceding the first-half penalty that was missed by Theo Walcott.
Milner has previously had to play at left-back when Moreno proved unreliable in last season’s Capital One Cup final defeat against Manchester City and was taken off in the second half.
