Dejan Lovren has claimed that a stomach injury is the reason he has not trained for the Liverpool side since coming back from the World Cup.
The Croatian helped his side to the final in Russia but had to deal with a loss against France. The former Southampton man has been ruled out for the first game against West Ham according to the Express and the central defender was quoted as speaking to Sportske Novosti (h/t Express):
“I cannot train at all because of stomach muscle issues.
“I am suffering a lot of pain and will see a specialist doctor in the Netherlands.”
The defender also added that he started getting the pain in the World Cup but he would not give up the chance to play for his country on the huge stage.
The former Southampton man also added that he can’t sit in his car without pain and that the pain had increased after the World Cup ended.
Liverpool, of course, would not be happy that one of their stars is in so much trouble and there is no clarity on what the problem is or for how long Lovren could be out for, something the Croatian highlighted,
“Of course, they [Liverpool] are not happy. I haven’t trained since I returned from holiday. I can’t.
“I’ll reassess things after seeing the doctor in Netherlands. I have to deal with that for now and believe it will be okay.
“I hoped it would pass during my holiday, but it didn’t. As I went for a swim, it hurt. I couldn’t even rest normally.”
The Reds did not buy a central defender in the summer window and if Lovren is out for a while, we could be in for some trouble.
Read more: Here’s why Liverpool did not sign a replacement for Philippe Coutinho this summer
Liverpool open their season against West Ham and it will be interesting to see just who partners Virgil van Dijk in the heart of the defence against the Hammers.
