Emre Can spent "seven to eight" hours a day at the Liverpool training ground in his bid to return earlier than expected from an ankle injury.
An initial assessment predicted Can would miss four to six weeks after damaging ankle ligaments during Liverpool's 4-3 win over Borussia Dortmund in April, putting the remainder of his season in doubt.
But the midfielder returned after three weeks to help Liverpool reach the Europa League final with victory over Villarreal, and looks set to feature against Sevilla in Basel after coming through 90 minutes unscathed against Chelsea on Wednesday.
"I wanted to come back very early - it was my target," Can told Liverpool's club website.
"I spent every day here at Melwood, for seven or eight hours. I worked really hard with the physios and fitness coaches and I'm happy that I'm back. It was a target to come back for the second leg [against Villarreal]."
Liverpool face West Brom at The Hawthorns on the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday before they bid to win a first European trophy since 2005 on May 18.
The Reds overturned Villarreal's first-leg lead in a memorable semi-final second leg at Anfield, and Can hopes to go one step further on Wednesday.
"We were all very happy and I think we played very, very well in that game," he added. "The atmosphere in the stadium was unbelievable - I've never seen something like this. Hopefully, now we will win the final as well."
If results go their way on Sunday Liverpool could finish the season as high as sixth, and Can believes his side can take encouragement from Leicester City and challenge for the title next year.
"I think we had some ups and downs, but in the last few months you can see we play much better football, and we win more games and score more goals," he continued.
"If we keep up the good work from the last months, then hopefully we will win [trophies] next year.
"Everybody knows that Liverpool is a big club and our target has to be, always, to win the title. Leicester City deserved to win this year because they played a great, great season and they were strong as a team."