Jurgen Klopp has joked that he has been told to sign Thiago Alcantara in January as the midfielder bids to return to fitness and kick-start his Liverpool career.
Klopp swooped for the midfielder in a £25m deal in the summer transfer window but the Spaniard has only played twice for Liverpool since arriving at Anfield in September.
The 29-year-old made his debut in the 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but was injured by a brutal challenge from Everton's Richarlison in the Merseyside derby back in October.
Richarlison was red-carded for his wild lunge but Alcantara hasn't played since but on Thursday, was pictured undergoing individual training at Liverpool's Kirkby base.
'We already made jokes here; I said, "I think we should sign Thiago for January!" joked Klopp at his Friday press conference ahead of Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace.
'He gets closer and closer and he is in a good way, but we will not rush it, we cannot rush it and he will not [either] because he is not allowed to rush it.
'Of course, it’s nice having him on the pitch, training, doing a lot of stuff, but he is not in team training yet and that's actually the final step.
'We will see how this weekend looks with him on the pitch and then next week [see if he] can be in team training. I don’t know in the moment 100 per cent. There are a few tests, he has to pass a few tests on the pitch until we make that decision.'
Klopp said that Thiago is following a similar path to James Milner and Xherdan Shaqiri as the injured midfielders look to make a return to fitness.
'That’s not only for him the case,' Klopp added. 'With Millie it will be similar, with Shaq it will be similar.
'If I forgot somebody it’s not because I am disrespectful, it’s just a lot of players are injured in the moment.'