‘There’s a good chance’: Klopp confident that £70k-a-week player will return for Liverpool tomorrow night

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Ibrahima Konaté is a possible return for Liverpool against Napoli on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League. The Frenchman has been hit by injuries this season

Jurgen Klopp addressed Ibrahima Konaté possibly returning for Liverpool against Napoli this week. The Reds’ boss spoke in his pre-match press conference on Monday – and sounds positive about the idea.

“We will see. Ibou, I think there’s a good chance that he will have a game,” said Klopp. Short and sweet then.

Konaté has only made a couple of appearances this season after picking up an injury in Liverpool’s final pre-season friendly. That injury kept him out for months and his return – 21 minutes in the Premier League against Arsenal – was a false one.

The Frenchman did start the 7-1 win against Rangers, coming off after 79 minutes, but then problems reemerged. Konaté has missed the last few games once again – but perhaps this will be the end of his injury woes.

Konaté could return for Liverpool v Napoli

We can’t imagine Klopp would throw Konaté straight into the starting XI for this. It’s more likely that he comes off the bench for up to half an hour towards the end of the game.

Then again, Liverpool don’t necessarily need to win this one. They’ve already qualified for the knockout stages and would need to smash Napoli by three goals in order to top the group. Perhaps giving Konaté plenty of time to get up to speed – even if he’s not quite sharp for this one – makes sense.

It’ll all depend on how fit he is. If his return is about slowly getting Konaté up to fitness, then he won’t start here. If he’s physically okay and just not match-sharp, we think Liverpool could start him at Anfield.

Either way, it’s just nice to hear that he’s likely back. Liverpool have missed Konaté, a player who grew immensely after joining the Reds on a £70k-a-week contract in 2021 (per Capology).