As the Reds prepare to head south for their FA Cup Fourth Round tie at Brighton, here's your Liverpool FC evening headlines for Friday, January 27.
Jurgen Klopp confirms three key Liverpool players are weeks away from returning and gives Arthur Melo update
Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino will be back in training in a "couple of weeks."
The Portuguese missed the World Cup with a calf injury that has kept him sidelined since October, while the Brazilian suffered an injury during Liverpool's mid-season break. Meanwhile, Van Dijk suffered a hamstring injury in the Reds' loss to Brentford earlier this month. And while none of the trio are available to return against the Seagulls, Klopp confirmed they are all closing in on returns to training.
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"Closer, yes. (Imminent?) No." Klopp told reporters at his pre-match press conference ahead of the Reds' FA Cup trip to Brighton. "It will take another couple of weeks. I think. Luis takes longer.
"But Diogo, Bobby and Virgil, a couple of weeks before they can join training and then we have to see how quickly it goes from there.
Meanwhile, Klopp has confirmed that Arthur Melo is making good progress after undergoing thigh surgery back in October, and is also set to return to training next month.
Read the full story HERE.
Steven Gerrard has already predicted Liverpool team-mate who could replace Jurgen Klopp as manager
When Jurgen Klopp signed his latest contract extension with Liverpool last April, committing his future to the Reds until 2026, speculative talk of potential successors to the German at Anfield was thankfully put on hold.
Klopp’s side were on the verge of what would have been an unprecedented quadruple when he put pen to paper on his two-year extension. And while Liverpool have struggled on the pitch this season, there has never been any desire to see the German, who has won every major trophy on offer with the Reds, leave the club.
When speaking about Liverpool’s woes earlier this month, and comparing the Reds’ situation with his final season at Borussia Dortmund, Klopp would confirm he had no intention of leaving Anfield anytime soon.
Whenever the day comes for him to depart the club, be it at the end of his contract in 2026 or beyond, he will leave the biggest of shoes to follow. And while such an exit is a long way off yet, there remains no clear successor waiting in the wings.
Steven Gerrard and Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders have been the two candidates touted most as potential Klopp successors. Yet, in truth, such hopes seem to have dwindled since the German signed his extension.
“If I had smart people around me, and the right coaching team behind me, I like to think I could succeed as a manager,” Steven Gerrard wrote in his 2015 autobiography. “It’s still quite fun to fantasise a little. If, totally hypothetically, I was going to become Liverpool manager one day I know who I'd love to have as my assistant: Xabi Alonso or Jamie Carragher."
Read the full story HERE.
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