Football
Glenn Price, Liverpool correspondent 7y

Liverpool to rush Sadio Mane back from AFCON to face Chelsea - source

Liverpool will arrange a private jet for Sadio Mane in order to bring him back to Merseyside from the African Nations Cup, a source has told ESPN FC.

Senegal were eliminated from the tournament in Gabon at the quarterfinal stage on Saturday evening, after a distraught Mane missed the crucial penalty in a shootout with Cameroon.

Liverpool hope the forward will return in time for Tuesday night's huge Premier League showdown with leaders Chelsea at Anfield.

It is not an unprecedented move for the club to make, with Liverpool recently arranging a chartered jet for Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino so they could quickly return home from international duty with Brazil.

Liverpool have badly missed Mane's presence and have only won once since his departure at the start of 2017.

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp recently admitted he had "mixed emotions" about Senegal's progress in the competition.

"We knew about the Africa Cup of Nations before -- it is the same for all teams," he said.

"We have a lot of respect for what they are doing there. It is not too cool being in the middle of our season."

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