Liverpool have named a 37-man squad for their pre-season tour of Thailand and Singapore with new signings Darwin Nunez and Fabio Carvalho included for the first time.
On Saturday, the squad boarded the plane in Manchester to make their long journey around the globe before touching down early on Sunday. The Reds have been busy in the summer transfer window as they announced the stunning capture of Nunez from Benfica in a deal worth up to £85million before completing the signing of the Portuguese Carvalho, 19, who almost joined the Reds from Fulham in the January transfer window.
However, 18-year-old defender Calvin Ramsay is not included in the squad after joining the Reds from Aberdeen last month. Ramsay was signed to provide competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is among the travelling party, but Jurgen Klopp recently revealed that an injury that could cause him long-term problems if not fixed was discovered during his medical.
Klopp explained: “Unfortunately, Calvin is now not training with us in the moment, he has a little injury. Nobody knew, we found it when he did his medical check. Until today he has no problems.
"But the medical department tells us if we don’t take care for that now, he will have a problem in the future. So, when you are that young then of course he has a long career ahead of him, so we are very responsible in these moments.
"What a player he is, what he did for Aberdeen last year, absolutely exceptional. In his age group and you know the things we need from a full-back, he is as close as it gets to the things we want and is still a kid. So we really expect a lot from him in the long term."
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Also missing from the Liverpool travelling party is goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher – who starred in the EFL Cup final win over Chelsea in February – whose future at Anfield is under question as he aims for more regular first-team football. Alisson Becker and Adrian are both included in the squad, along with youth team goalkeepers Fabian Mrozek and Harvey Davies.
Neco Williams is also missing as he closes in on a big-money move to Nottingham Forest while 17-year-old Kaide Gordon is also not in the squad, having impressed so much during pre-season for the Reds a year ago.
Mohamed Salah, Alisson, Fabinho and Kostas Tsimikas have not travelled out with the original squad due to having a later rest period in pre-season, but will meet up with their teammates in the Far East. A host of youngsters have been included in Klopp’s squad including Stefan Bajcetic, Bobby Clark, Isaac Mabaya, Melkamu Frauendorf, Luke Chambers, Tyler Morton, James Norris and Tom Hill.
The Reds will take on Manchester United in Thailand on 12 July before facing Crystal Palace in Singapore three days later. Klopp’s squad are also due to face RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg in pre-season, while they will host French side Strasbourg on 31 July at Anfield.
Liverpool will commence their season with the Community Shield clash against Manchester City on 30 July at Wembley, and they will start their Premier League campaign with a Saturday lunchtime trip to newly-promoted Fulham on 6 August.
Liverpool’s pre-season squad : Adrian, Alexander-Arnold, Alisson, Bajcetic, Carvalho, Chambers, Clark, Clarkson, H. Davies, Diaz, Elliott, Fabinho, Firmino, Frauendorf, Gomez, Henderson, Hill, Jones, Jota, Keita, Konate, Mabaya, Matip, Milner, Morton, Mrozek, Norris, Nunez, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phillips, Robertson, Salah, Thiago, Tsimikas, Van den Berg, Van Dijk, R. Williams.
