Liverpool in double swoop for Manchester City Physio and Arsenal doctor

Liverpool have swooped in to sign Manchester City physio Steve Lilley and Arsenal club doctor Gary O’Driscoll, according to Transfer Ground Guru (h/t Mirror).

Lilley will join current head physio Lee Nobles, who was also signed from City last year. A trusted member of Pep Guardiola’s backroom and would be an excellent addition to the Reds. He graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy. Lilley then went on to complete his master’s degree in sports physiotherapy in 2015. (h/t Daily Mail)

The report also goes on to say that Arsenal’s Gary O’Driscoll will take over from Andy Massey as head of medical services at Melwood. Massey is scheduled to leave the club on March 1st to become the director of medical at FIFA.

O’Driscoll has held leadership positions with the British Lions and Ireland rugby team and has been at Arsenal since 2009. Hailing from Manchester, he could welcome a return to the North-West of England to Merseyside.

First-team physio Richie Partridge is also set to leave next month after nine years on Merseyside, to take a job with the Qatar national team. The departures of Massey and Partridge for high profile jobs indicate how highly regarded the work of Liverpool’s medical department is today.

It’s not doom as gloom as the Reds are have moved ahead to fill these gaps by recruiting from their rivals. It is a testament to the club’s pulling power to be able to attract such elite talent.