OPINION
Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne’s excitement over the prospect of being able to prove himself to Jurgen Klopp over this festive period after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s injury handed him an opportunity to feature may have been dampened.
Alexander-Arnold suffered a foot injury against Napoli which caused him to miss the clash with Manchester United and the Liverpool Echo suggested that why the club hoped he’d be back for the festive period that a January 2019 return date was possible.
However Jurgen Klopp provided an update on the 20-year-old first-team regular on Tuesday ahead of the clash with Wolves and was rather positive regarding the full-back’s chance of returning to action soon.
Klopp on Trent AA: "It looks surprisingly good. Wolves will be a bit too early but after that hopefully we can think about him." #LFC
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceLFC) December 18, 2018
“It looks surprisingly good. Wolves will be a bit too early but after that hopefully we can think about him,” said the Reds manager, as transcribed by Liverpool Echo journalist James Pearce on his personal Twitter account.
While this is a potential boost for the Reds and Alexander-Arnold, the update by Klopp did deal Clyne with a blow as the player probably has one game left to really stake a first-team claim.
The 27-year-old, who earns £70,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) has been starved of opportunities this season and has featured just twice for the senior side.
One of these outings was during the Reds’ 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday as both Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez were ruled out of the game due to injury.
Given that Alexander-Arnold sounds like he’ll be back available for selection after Friday’s clash with Wolves, that means Clyne only has that game left to really show why he should be featuring more.
This will see the 27-year-old sweating as if he fails to deliver the goods, not only will he not be tasting regular football, he may have to leave Anfield to get it.
Clyne’s exit in January has been mentioned as a possible option as respected Liverpool journalist Ian Doyle told the Liverpool Echo in November that the full-back could potentially depart.
“Who could leave? Difficult one,” Doyle told newspaper.
“There may by then [January] be players in need of first team action, so if Nathaniel Clyne, Dominic Solanke or Divock Origi go – even only on loan – it wouldn’t be the biggest shock.
“Alberto Moreno and Daniel Sturridge are approaching the end of their contract but I’d imagine Liverpool might want to keep hold of them until the end of the season at least instead of cashing in on what would be a minimal fee.”
Therefore with all this mind Clyne is likely sweating ahead of his potential chance to impress against Wolves on Friday as with Alexander-Arnold nearing a return, who knows when another good opportunity will come along.
