Jurgen Klopp offers updates on Naby Keita and the injury situation at Liverpool
Among the multiple positive news which came out of Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match conference ahead of the derby against Everton, Naby Keita and Jordan Henderson’s injuries were the only gloom for Liverpool. (h/t The Mirror)
The gaffer also spoke about the arrival of Arthur Melo and said he was “really happy” with the Brazilian’s arrival at Anfield. His advent at Liverpool concludes the Reds’ summer transfer business. All in all, he is Liverpool’s fourth summer signing after Fabio Carvalho, Calvin Ramsay and Darwin Nunez.
Speaking of injuries, Kloppo confirmed that Diogo Jota returned to team training on Thursday, and could “probably” make it to the Everton squad. The other positive was Darwin Nunez returning from a suspension due to a red card in his first Anfield appearance, against Crystal Palace.
Injury Update
Skipper Jordan Henderson and Naby Keita were ruled out by Klopp for the Everton game. Klopp confirmed Henderson would miss the derby with an undisclosed injury, while Keita would be out “for some time” with a muscle injury.
The Guinean was subject to a move away from Anfield to Borussia Dortmund in the early weeks of the transfer window. He hasn’t featured since the Manchester United fixture. Concurrently, he saw himself out of the lineup just a day before that fixture.
Keita has arguably underachieved at the club since he arrived in 2018. He has not featured in a single league fixture this season. On top of that, he has been very injury-prone and inconsistent with his performances.
But to his credit, he had possibly his best campaign for the Reds last season. In 40 appearances across all competitions, he accumulated four goals and three assists. Despite that, he missed eight games last campaign.
There is a possibility that Naby Keita’s injury scare could see him out of the UEFA Champions League squad as the competition’s squad size rules prevent Liverpool from using more than 24 players.
More Liverpool News
- Steven Gerrard talks about the Douglas Luiz situation amid Liverpool links
- Rio Ferdinand identifies Fabinho as the reason for Newcastle’s opening goal against Liverpool
- Arthur Melo and Liverpool. How will this transfer turn out?
Keita’s contract runs down next summer and he is yet to sign an extension. The chances of that are pretty slim as well given he has largely disappointed at the club and Liverpool might have identified replacements for the player.
