Jurgen Klopp admitted to some concern over a potential injury suffered by Curtis Jones ahead of Liverpool’s upcoming Premier League opener against newly-promoted Fulham.
The Englishman was ruled out of the club’s final pre-season tie with Strasbourg by the medical department and ‘further tests’ will be required to determine the severity of the concern.
“Naby is ill, so no. Curtis, we have to see,” the German told liverpoolfc.com.
“[There] was no impact or whatever, so that always makes it a bit, ‘My god, what could it be?’
“We had no time; he felt it today and he wanted to play desperately, but then the medical department said no and that we needed to make further tests.
“We will do that tomorrow and then we will know more.”
With the side’s midfield options already thinned by a long-term injury to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, another long-term sidelining will do the manager no favours after having completed pre-season preparations.
Given that Klopp confirmed a midfield addition before the summer window closes would be considered should serious injuries rack up in the squad, one might fairly presume that a fourth senior signing is likely should results scans come back with bad news.
With this hopefully being a transformative campaign for the 21-year-old, it would represent an extremely poorly timed setback for his personal development amid criticism of the Scouser online in response to his target for the season.
Maybe Naby needs a year or two vacation. How about that?