Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino is facing longer out injured than first feared.
The Brazilian is yet to feature for the Reds since the restart of the season after picking up a calf injury. And speaking in his pre-Brighton press conference today Klopp said it may be a while until we see Firmino again.
“[Firmino is] Still a little bit [away]. So, in the first moment it was a little injury. The estimate was 10 days, two weeks, pretty normal rehab stuff, all the experts told us what we can do, and then Bobby felt again something,” he explained.
“That then kept him out, obviously. I don’t know when he will be back exactly but he’s not close to team training, no.”
Liverpool lacking fire power
In a press conference filled with pretty deflating news, this was another nugget of disappointment for Klopp to deliver.
With Darwin Nunez now ruled out of tomorrow’s game too, Liverpool are on their last legs in forward areas.
As things stand, of the Reds’ six elite attacking options, only two are now available. Thank goodness that Liverpool pulled the trigger on signing Cody Gakpo at the start of the window.
Only Mohamed Salah remains fully fit alongside Gakpo. Firmino and Nunez join Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz on the injury list.
From a personal point of view, it’s bad news for Firmino as well. The £29m man had been having a really excellent season before injury struck him down again.
With his contract mere months away from expiring, Bobby’s good performances looked likely to earn him a new deal.
Now, that could change. Turning thirty-two in the Autumn, perhaps Liverpool will now feel that his injury record is starting to get the better of him.
As a result, they may then decide against pursuing discussions around an extension. A lot of that may depend exactly how long Firmino is missing for. Klopp is still playing his cards close to his chest in that respect. That’s usually bad news.
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