Injury has cost Xherdan Shaqiri one final shot at Liverpool career

Add as preferred source on Google

His latest injury has surely cost Xherdan Shaqiri a final shot at his Liverpool career. The Swiss winger is out at a time of golden opportunity.

Xherdan Shaqiri is currently out with another injury, something that has blighted his Liverpool career. He missed most of last season with several, after all.

This latest one, though, is surely the most gut-wrenching of the lot. It may well have cost him his Liverpool career.

Opportunity

Liverpool’s injury crisis has opened the door for several players. Curtis Jones, for instance, is now a great first-team option. That wasn’t the case a couple of months ago.

We’ve seen Diogo Jota, too, take advantage of rotation to shine and make himself a star.

Shaqiri could have had a similar chance. He certainly looked set to. Ahead of the international break, Shaqiri got half an hour against Ajax. He started against Midtjylland. Then came 20 minutes against West Ham United and half an hour against Manchester City.

Those are some serious minutes against good sides – not throwaway, time-wasting substitutions.

It suggests that Jurgen Klopp wanted to use Shaqiri more this season. Unfortunately, he returned from that international break with an injury and hasn’t played since.

And the opportunity may now be gone. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is nearly back, for one, and he’ll take up positions Shaqiri would have.

As we mentioned, Jones now commands serious minutes, too. That will eat into any prospective game time Shaqiri hoped for.

Liverpool reportedly tried to sell Shaqiri in the summer, too. Any minutes he got this season were an opportunity to reverse that belief – and he was likely doing just that.

But now, with injured players returning and others establishing themselves, that opportunity is surely gone.

It’s a real shame, of course, but it’s hard to see a way back for Shaqiri.