It continues to be a very exciting summer at Liverpool, with a whole lot going on at Anfield. The preseason exhibition games have already begun for the Reds, and there is certainly no shortage of topics to discuss today.
So let’s take a spin through the latest news and notes items making the rounds on the internet this Thursday.
-Obviously, the lead story today is Liverpool and AS Roma coming to an agreement on the transfer fee for goalkeeper Alisson Becker. The £66.8 million is a new world’s record for a goalkeeper.
Alisson to undergo medical on Thursday #LFC
— James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) July 18, 2018
The deal is still pending a medical and agreement to personal terms, but Alisson has arrived in England to undergo the medical on Thursday. Therefore, we should expect an official announcement in a matter of hours.
-It turns out that the injury Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered in the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Alisson’s soon to be former team is going to cost him more than than the UCL Final and the World Cup. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that ligament damage will force the Ox to miss most of the 2018-19 season, and that it will be a bonus if he even plays at all this term.
“It feels like now is an appropriate time to tell people that for Ox this coming season will be about focusing on recovery and rehab,” Klopp said to LiverpoolFC.com.
“We have known this from pretty much the day after he got the injury and after the successful surgery, we were sure of it. I hope everyone treats this information responsibly.”
“There has been no change, no setback — it’s exactly on the schedule we expected and planned for. The new information is that we’re now giving more detail publicly.”
“It is typical of Ox that he didn’t want the news to overshadow the end of the season and, to be quite honest, we thought we could wait and tell people at an appropriate time.
“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.
“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.”
What a tough situation for Oxlade-Chamberlain. You can’t help but feel for the guy, and wish him the best of luck.
–Jurgen Klopp discussed the overall challenges and goals of this 2018 preseason- essentially trying to get three different groups of players all on the same page when the season gets here. The three groupings are those on holiday after playing in the World Cup, those with the team right now and new arrivals.
The German is confident that it will all coalesce in the end.
“I love the preseason, but I really loved the good old preseason when you had all players together and you can train from the first day,” Klopp said.
“In this moment we miss three or four offensive players. Firmino, Mo, Sadio and Shaq. It means an interesting challenge. Hendo [Jordan Henderson] is not in, Trent [Alexander-Arnold] is not in, Simon [Mignolet] is not in and Dejan [Lovren] will be the latest to come back.
“In terms of squad planning, I am really fine. In terms of football, we are in a good way but not where we want to be. A lot will come once the other boys are back. We will be fine at the end.”
Liverpool are three games into their nine match preseason slate, and here below you will find the full schedule, and results so far.
7 July Chester 0-7 Liverpool
10 July Tranmere Rovers 2-3 Liverpool
14 July v Bury 0-0
19 July v Blackburn Rovers (Ewood Park)
22 July v Borussia Dortmund (Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA)
25 July v Manchester City (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA)
28 July v Manchester United (Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA)
4 Aug v Napoli (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)
7 Aug v Torino (Anfield)
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
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