Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has admitted that he may not be fully fit for ‘the next couple of years’.
The England international was left out of the squad to face Leicester City on Saturday, as he continues to recuperate from a horror injury suffered in May 2018. The 26-year-old ruptured his lateral collateral ligament, while his medial ligaments were damaged and his hamstring tendon was effected too.
He’s now provided fresh insight: “Things have changed, my knee has been reconstructed but when they [doctors] say two years they mean that’s when you stop noticing that you have had a bad knee,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“I still have some days when I wake up and it’s feeling a bit stiff or swollen but after training, it’s alright. I expect to feel it for the next couple of years, but it will evolve until I don’t feel it any more.”
OPINION
This is a bit concerning, isn’t it? Clearly there is still a long road ahead for Oxlade-Chamberlain before he gets back to full fitness, which isn’t much of a surprise when you consider the extent of the injuries he suffered against Roma. By the sounds of it it’s going to take a while for him to not feel like he has an injury and to have a full-functioning knee again. That’s not good, and nor is what he says about how it’s feeling at the moment. For him to still be waking up on occasion and it’s swollen is pretty concerning, that’s for sure. However, he is certainly going to be getting the best possible care on Merseyside. Jurgen Klopp won’t do anything to jeopardise his recovery, as we saw with him being given the afternoon off on Saturday, and so hopefully he will be able to feel 100% fit before the two year time limit he and his doctors have set.
