Jurgen Klopp has revealed when one of his injured players is set to return to training.
The German tactician is without a number of key players at the moment including Joel Matip, Andy Robertson, Kostas Tsimikas and Stefan Bacjetic.
Another of our sidelined players is Thiago Alcantara. The Spaniard is yet to feature for the club this term as he continues to recover from a hip injury which has kept him out of action since April.
Klopp completed his pre-Newcastle press conference earlier this morning and provided an update on the fitness of our No. 6 and his compatriot Bajcetic (relayed by David Lynch on X).
Thiago Alcantara likely to return to team training January, Jurgen Klopp reveals. Stefan Bajcetic's timeline a little bit more uncertain.
— David Lynch (@dmlynchlfc) December 29, 2023
Thiago is a world-class player so it’s a real shame to see him struggling to return to fitness. His contract is up at the end of the season as well which means time really is ticking on his Liverpool career.
With the former Barcelona midfielder now the wrong side of 30 and struggling with injuries it’s very unlikely that he’ll be offered a new deal on Merseyside.
The way in which the 32-year-old, who Klopp has previously labelled as ‘oustanding’ (via the Metro), can dictate the play from the middle of the park and effortlessly bring his teammates into the game really is a joy to watch but we haven’t been able to call upon his services anywhere near as much as we would’ve liked.
If he does return to action in the new year, however, he can certainly play a huge role as we aim to compete on all four fronts and give him a chance to add to his already impressive trophy collection.
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If he comes back I’d be very surprised if he could string a few games together before being out injured again, he’s past it and needs to move on!