Jurgen Klopp isn’t willing to take any risks with Ibrahima Konaté has he returns for Liverpool, according to reports. The Frenchman is back in training.
This comes from The Times. They report that Ibrahima Konaté is back for Liverpool this weekend after completing training as normal.
The Frenchman has been out since the final pre-season friendly where he picked up a muscle problem. Nearly two months later, Konaté is back – but that doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily see him soon.
The Times claim that Jurgen Klopp isn’t willing to take any risks with the player. The fact that both Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are fit – and rested after the international break – means Liverpool can leave Konaté on the sidelines until they’re 100% sure he’s good to go.
Ibrahima Konaté returns for Liverpool
This would make it highly unlikely that Konaté starts against Brighton on Saturday. Though, we don’t have him down as making the XI anyway. Matip almost certainly takes that role.
Perhaps, though, Konaté could get minutes from the bench ahead of potentially facing Rangers in midweek. That feels like the sensible move.
Because Klopp has to balance things here. No, they won’t want to risk Konaté but the next six weeks will be intense ahead of the World Cup. Everyone will need rotating and that means making use of a deep squad.
Thus Konaté must get up to speed ASAP. While there’s no need to rush him just yet, Liverpool must find him minutes where they can if they’re to use him properly anytime soon.
And they’ll certainly want that. Konaté is an ‘incredible’ player, in the words of Virgil van Dijk, and one who could make a massive difference at Liverpool. We already believe they’ve missed him this season.
Hopefully, we don’t have to wait much longer.
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