Latest Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp praises Xherdan Shaqiri despite lack of first-team starts this season

Jurgen Klopp praised Xherdan Shaqiri in a recent segment for Viasport and admitted that the Swiss star hasn’t played too many games this season.

The former Stoke City attacker joined Liverpool in the summer and hasn’t been able to cement a place in the first XI.

Shaqiri has had his moments in his first season, with a brace against Manchester United at Anfield. The Swiss attacker also provided the cross for the late Divock Origi winner against Newcastle United.

Reports (h/t Express) suggested that the Reds would sell Shaqiri if they got the right offer for the 27-year-old, however, Klopp is happy with the former Bayern Munich and Inter Milan star.

The German was looking at a photo of a young Shaqiri in Viasport segment and said (h/t Express):

“I think he’s from Switzerland. That must be Shaq. What a wonderful player, what a wonderful ambassador for his country. So I’m really happy to have him around.

“I know people think I didn’t play him around often enough. He thinks probably the same. But what an important player for us all the season.”

Shaqiri has moments of magic in first season

The Swiss star still racked up 6 goals and 5 assists for Liverpool in his first season despite just 13 starts in the Premier League and Champions League.

Although Shaqiri could have played a few more games this season, he would find it difficult to start ahead of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane out wide.

Further, our midfield has been shuffled a lot by Klopp, with no one guaranteed a starting place. Our captain Jordan Henderson has been shifted to the bench for several games, while the likes of James Milner, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum have all been rotated.

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Shaqiri is still a quality player to have on the bench and hopefully, he gets more opportunities to perform next season.