Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is likely to miss the majority of the 2018-19 season due to the injury he suffered against AS Roma last season.
The German manager shared the expected timeframe for the 24-year-old midfielder’s return with it believed that it will be bonus if he features in a competitive game before the end of the upcoming campaign.
“His surgery – which he had on the day of our second leg in Roma – has been completely successful and his recovery has started superbly well,” said Klopp, as quoted by the club’s official website.
“But the truth of the matter is that we are preparing this season knowing he will not be with us on the pitch for competitive matches for the majority of it. If we do see him back this season it will be a bonus.”
Chamberlain, who earns £120,000-a-week at Anfield (Source: The Telegraph), featured 46 times for the Reds during the 2017/18 season and managed to score five goals, while creating eight, in his outings.
OPINION
This is a shattering blow to the Reds as Chamberlain flourished at Anfield last season. The 24-year-old finally looked like he was fulfilling his potential under Klopp’s care and his future at the club looked very bright. However it seems that injury will now cause him to have to hit pause on the progress he has made at the Reds as he is set for a long time on the sidelines. Klopp also opted to reveal that the club and the player have known about the bad news regarding his knee injury for a while now but chose to not publicly announce it. Oxlade-Chamberlain may the decision to keep the diagnosis of his injury private as he didn’t want to ruin the club’s momentum at the end of last season as they were progressing towards a Champions League final. That decision shows what a great team player the 24-year-old is as the news about his potential return date has no doubt left him devastated.
