Liverpool manager praises return of forward to help fix £150m problem in January

Jurgen Klopp has praised the impact of Diogo Jota on his return to the side after netting against Burnley ahead of a month without Mohamed Salah.

Jota, 27, recently returned to action after suffering a muscle injury which kept him out action since the end of November. His return was a brief six minute appearance off the bench against Vincent Kompany's side but he still managed to help Liverpool grab a second goal to put the result beyond doubt with what was a fantastically smart finish.

He provided the killer instinct which had gone missing in that game as Klopp's side racked up 19 goal attempts and 10 on target in total in a game in which they were the more dominant side. Darwin Nunez had given his side the lead early on but their frontline in recent weeks has struggled for consistent goals other than Salah, so Jota's return is certainly timely ahead of the Egyptian's exit for the Africa Cup of Nations following the Newcastle game on New Year's Day.

With Salah gone, Liverpool lose a player who has contributed towards 49% of their 39 goals so far (12 goals, seven assists) for up to five games in all competitions and Klopp will need his frontline to step up in his absence. Jota is one player who could help do so and when asked about his return to the side, Klopp described the Portuguese star as 'super important'.

"The return of each of the boys is important but Jota especially, everybody was quite positive about our five options but I don’t think we had that often to be honest, especially with the amount of games we’ve played it’s important they can rotate in between them, and now obviously Mo leaving, Endo leaving, we need everybody to get back, if Maca could be back for Newcastle it would be outstanding and that’s the situation we just have to make sure we always find a way to line the team up.

"His football brain, very smart footballer he understands the game particularly well. He understands the game on a different level and he is one of them, definitely. He gives himself the chance to adapt to things his opponents do a little bit quicker. On top of that, he is both footed and a great finisher. If you are a Liverpool player, then you must be a pretty special player."

Jota's record of 50 goals and 17 assists in 131 games is certainly a brilliant return and it almost mirrors his time at Wolves in which he scored 44 times and provided 19 assists in the exact same amount of games. Stepping up to the level of Liverpool has never been a problem and he has been a key Klopp player since arriving coming in and out of the team.

Replacing Salah in the long-term will prove to be a more difficult task given he is now the club's fifth all-time leading goal scorer and with Saudi Arabia seemingly desperate to bring the global star to the Middle East, the £150m bid we saw in summer may just be the beginning. But, for now, it looks like Jota will get plenty of chances to start given the inconsistency shown by Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo in recent weeks.