Sadio Mane will not feature for Liverpool against Leicester City on Thursday night following Senegal's Africa Cup of Nations win, Jurgen Klopp has confirmed.
The forward scored the winner in the penalty shoot out against Egypt and has been in his homeland for to celebrate the win with the Reds' blessing.
Yet to return to England as a result, Klopp confirmed he is expecting the 29-year-old to fly back on Wednesday night but Thursday's game will come too soon for him as a result.
"Sadio is not back yet. A clear agreement with him," the German told reporters. "We said it’s such a big thing, everybody could see that celebration in Senegal.
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"We didn’t want to stress anybody there by asking for bringing Sadio back earlier. They should just enjoy it and enjoy themselves and come back as early as possible. I think it’ll be tonight."
While Mane isn't available for selection against Leicester, Klopp confirmed captain Jordan Henderson is also doubtful because of a back injury.
However, new signing Luis Diaz is ready despite taking a blow to his knee against Cardiff City at the weekend.
"Hendo has a little bit of a back problem from the last game, Sadio isn't here," the German said. "What is a fully available squad? But neither issue is long term so that is good.
"He (Luis) is okay. We didn't spend the full time together, it was for training sessions. We had a longer talk with Pep Lijnders who speaks Portuguese and Spanish as well so we could have a proper talk.
"He is a really nice guy. I like a lot his contribution when he came on in the Cardiff game and from there we go.
"Yesterday, a normal session which he enjoyed a lot. I'm not sure if you saw pictures of our training session, we started with a longer rondo and I'm not sure I saw a player ever smile that constantly through a rondo. He enjoyed it and the rest of the session as well.
"We could see very naturally he fitted into the game, the last game. Positioning-wise, he played exactly how we wanted him to but that is only the starting point. A lot more to come.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Salah is also available after returning to training earlier this week.
But having held talks with the forward, Klopp admitted the forward is understandably still hurting after Sunday's Africa Cup of Nations final defeat.
"Mo is back. He trained yesterday and will train today," he said. " He’s very disappointed, it’s a massive thing.
"Losing a final is always really, really hard. Losing it the way they lost it was especially hard and that’s what he felt as well. He’s happy to be back but is disappointed as well, massively so.
"We spoke about the tournament and everything. We will see. He will deal with that of course and I hope it will already be better today.
"Yesterday everybody could see he still has the final on his mind."
