Alexander Isak is due to rejoin Liverpool’s group training this week after a three-month absence caused by a fractured leg and ankle injury. The striker is scheduled to take part in team sessions on Thursday, manager Arne Slot confirmed.

“I think Alex is in a really good place because Sweden qualified for the World Cup yesterday evening, and apart from that he’s going to train with the group again for the first time tomorrow,” Slot revealed in a brief interview with Liverpoolfc.com on Wednesday.

Slot cautioned that returning to collective training is only an early step in the recovery. “If you’ve worked so hard for three, four months or something like that and then to return to team training, that’s for everyone [is] very nice. So, Alex is, in that sense, in a good place.”

The manager underlined the need for gradual progression. “It’s only his first session after three or four months [out], but it’s good to have him back because we all know who we signed, and we’ve signed an incredible striker,” Slot added. “To have him again in a team that’s usually generating quite a lot chances—and maybe not immediately he can start—for the last two months [of the season] is, I think, very helpful for us.”

Isak’s path back to match fitness will take time. He struggled with fitness after a summer spent trying to force his way out of Newcastle United and arrived at Liverpool lacking condition. He did not score his first Premier League goal for the club until the end of November. The goal against Spurs that caused the injury was only Isak’s second in the league.

Liverpool travel to Manchester City in the FA Cup on April 4, a game Isak almost certainly won’t play. After that, the Reds face Champions League quarterfinals against Paris Saint-Germain, with the two legs of that tie sandwiching a Premier League match with Fulham. Seven months after a $168.75 million (£125 million) transfer made him the most expensive player in English soccer history, Isak has had a difficult start to the 2025/26 season.

RB Leipzig have set a steep valuation for 19-year-old Yan Diomande, with the winger reported to require an offer of roughly $115.3 million (€100 million, £87 million) to be considered for sale. Manchester United, Liverpool and other clubs monitoring the player face a transfer window in which Leipzig’s broader planning will determine whether Diomande moves on.

Sky Sport Germany has reported Leipzig will prioritise other departures before processing any sale of Diomande. The club’s negotiating position is reinforced by the player’s contract, which runs to 2030. Leipzig see Diomande as a valuable asset but are prepared to sell only if the fee reflects that value; on the subject of his availability the player is described as “not unsellable,” but only for an offer that matches the enormous price tag.

Much of Leipzig’s summer strategy depends on transactions elsewhere in the squad. Centre back Castello Lukeba, who has been tentatively linked with Real Madrid and Liverpool in recent months, represents the most valuable asset expected to move in 2026. Factoring potential exits for Lukeba, Antonio Nusa and players currently out on loan, including striker Loïs Openda, Leipzig could generate around $230.8 million in outgoing funds over the summer without needing to sell Diomande.

A route other than an immediate summer transfer is plausible and mirrors a recent precedent at the club. Benjamin Šeško, now at Manchester United, attracted significant interest after an impressive debut season with Leipzig that produced 18 goals in all competitions. Šeško agreed improved terms with Leipzig in the summer of 2024, with an understanding he could leave for an acceptable fee the following year. Manchester United completed a $98.6 million transfer for Šeško in August 2025.

Diomande heads into his first World Cup with Ivory Coast this summer, a stage that may influence how clubs and Leipzig approach his next contract and any potential transfer.

Egypt national team director Ibrahim Hassan has publicly advised against a move to Major League Soccer for departing Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah. Hassan highlighted Salah’s honours, noting the forward’s two Premier League titles and a Champions League title during a nine-year spell at Anfield, and said he would rather see the player remain in Europe.

“Personally, I would prefer him to stay in Europe,” Hassan told On Sports. “I have heard about offers from Paris Saint‑Germain, Bayern Munich and clubs in the Italian league.”

Hassan warned that a transfer to the United States would reduce Salah’s profile. “A move to the Major League? He would be far too out of the spotlight,” he said. He contrasted Salah’s potential move with Lionel Messi’s presence in MLS: “You won’t remember Salah any more than I remember (Lionel) Messi now, I don’t even try to watch him.”

The remarks come amid continued evidence of Messi’s commercial and sporting pull in the U.S. Inter Miami announced that its new stadium, Nu Stadium, will include a tribute called the Leo Messi Stand, which the club says is the first time an athlete who regularly plays at his home stadium will have a stand named in his honour. Messi has sold out major venues, most recently the M&T Bank Stadium when over 72,000 fans watched Inter Miami’s 2–1 win against DC United earlier this month.

Since arriving in South Florida in 2023, Messi has helped Inter Miami to the 2023 Leagues Cup title, the 2024 Supporters’ Shield and the 2025 MLS Cup. He is also credited with contributing to the arrival of stars such as Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Rodrigo De Paul and Son Heung-min to the league.

Inter Miami are not currently in negotiations to sign Salah, but MLS has shown interest at the league level. “Mo Salah is one of the great players in the history of the Premier League … I’d love to see him in our league,” MLS commissioner Don Garber told reporters at the Sports Business Journal conference in Atlanta on Thursday.