‘Slightly different’: Jurgen Klopp says ‘exceptional’ Liverpool player will not play again in 2023

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Jurgen Klopp has admitted that Liverpool will be without Thiago Alcantara for the rest of the year.

The 32-year-old is yet to play a minute of football for the Reds this season, having undergone surgery on a hip issue over the summer.

Supporters have been looking for reassurance as to when Thiago will be back in action, and in his pre-Luton Town press conference today, Klopp finally gave it. The clarity is good, but the prognosis is frustrating.

“Thiago is slightly different, it’s an ongoing thing and we cannot put any pressure on that as well,” said the Liverpool manager.

“But we expect him to be back probably start of the New Year. It’s already November, so another four weeks is probably a realistic thing and to be honest I can’t wait to have him back, he’s exceptional.

“But we can’t have a week by week update because it won’t change a lot in this moment.”

Thiago set for New Year return

Let’s hope that this latest update from Klopp is a definitive date for a return for Thiago.

Already this season we’ve had a couple of false dawns. The Spain international was supposed to be back by the September and then October international breaks.

Now that we’ve at least got some clarity on a timeline, we can at least look forward to Thiago coming back.

As long as there are no further complications, we’ll look forward to him strutting his stuff in Liverpool’s new-look midfield in 2024.

From there, it’s likely that Thiago will be playing his final few months as a Liverpool player. What a frustrating few years it has been.

Nevertheless, if the former Bayern Munich man is properly fit and available from then until the end of the season, he could still make all the difference.

Despite his injuries, Thiago’s quality is without question. Who knows what kind of state Liverpool will be in by the time he returns, but it could yet be a glorious end to the Spain international’s time at the club.

Let’s hope so because just like Klopp, we can’t wait to see him in action again.