Sadio Mane to make Liverpool return 'in next 10 days'

Liverpool have been handed a fitness boost with the news that forward Sadio Mane is just a week or so away from returning to training.

The Senegal international missed the final eight games of last season after undergoing surgery on the knee injury sustained against Everton on April 1.

Mane, who scored 13 goals in 27 Premier League games in his first campaign at Anfield, is around 10 days away from making a return to training, but he will sit out the Reds' first batch of pre-season friendlies.

An update on Liverpool's official website confirmed that the 25-year-old is on course to return within the next fortnight, although the games against Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic will come too soon for him to feature.

Mane cost the Merseyside outfit £34m to sign from Southampton in June 2016, earning the Players' Player of the Year and Player of the Year awards for 2016-17.