Jurgen Klopp has singled out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as a ‘difference-maker’, after a question was posed yesterday about the likelihood of the player reaching his previous heights again at Liverpool, as reported on liverpoolfc.com.
The German was emphatic about the former Arsenal man’s quality and what he would bring coming back into training.
“In training, what Ox did so far, you see his quality immediately, immediately,” Klopp said. “He is a difference-maker, you can see that. Being in the best moment of your career and being compared with that after coming back from an injury, that’s a really dumb thing to do.”
“Ox is an outstanding player, an outstanding player,” the ex-Dortmund man added. “He was always and will always be.”
The club received a very timely boost with both Alisson Becker and ‘the Ox’ returning to training last night.
Though, the good news was balanced with some less appetising updates, with Klopp informing journalists that the Reds were waiting to hear about the seriousness of knocks sustained by Kostas Tsimikas and key man Diogo Jota.
While we’ll be keeping all our fingers crossed for the swift return of the two Liverpool players, we have to admit that it’s high time Oxlade-Chamberlain made his own, and we couldn’t be happier to see him.
The Englishman has had a torrid time with injuries of late, however, as Klopp was keen to emphasise, it’s a big boost having his quality available.
It might be too soon for the 27-year-old to make the Fulham game, but beyond that, well, it’s almost like – dare we say it – having a new signing.