Jurgen Klopp has promised Philippe Coutinho the chance to redeem himself with Liverpool fans...by opening the door to an immediate return.
Reds midfielder Coutinho has begun to make conciliatory noises after his hopes of a move to Barcelona faded, with the Catalan giants now thought ready to concentrate on landing Ousmane Demeble from Dortmund.
But with sources close to the Brazilian suggesting he wouldn’t play for the club again, even if he wasn’t granted a move, it makes the situation fraught for Coutinho.
Klopp though, insisted on Tuesday night that he is ready to bury the hatchet, and offer the midfielder a chance of a swift return to the first team, when Coutinho is fit again to play.
Asked if the relationship between him and Coutinho had survived the tension of a transfer request, the manager said: “Of course. Of course.
"Why do you ask if everything is okay between me and him? That was the question right? Yes, indeed, absolutely, 100%.”
And Klopp went further when he insisted nothing had changed, and Coutinho would not be sold under any circumstances.
Asked if that meant he would welcome the player back with open arms, he replied: “Yes of course, absolutely, 100%.”
Reports in Brazil have suggested sources close to the player are now claiming he never said he would refuse to play for Liverpool, if his move to Barca was blocked.
But Klopp explained that Coutinho is not ready for a first team return, because he was struck down with a virus two days ago, and has been forced to stay away from the training ground.
Asked when the midfielder would be back, he said: “I don’t know. That obviously more than kept him out and he is a bit sick so the last few days he was not even at Melwood.
“Emre Can also struggled a little with this, just a cold. He was back training today but Phil was not back because the risk of spreading was too big."
“If he started training again tomorrow it would take time (to be available for selection) because he hasn’t trained for a long time. I have no idea in this moment. It depends when he’s back (from sickness).”
In fact, there is an outside chance Coutinho could return to training as early as Thursday, which would give him a slight chance of making the squad for Sunday’s home game against Arsenal.
Liverpool take a 2-1 lead into Wednesday's Champions League play-off decider against Hoffenheim at Anfield after Trent Alexander-Arnold and a Havard Nordtveit own-goal before Mark Uth gave the Bundesliga side hope by halving the deficit late on.