Naby Keita is facing a further spell on the sidelines. The Guinea international missed Monday’s Premier League defeat at Manchester United after suffering a setback prior to the game.
Keita is yet to feature this season having been ill for the league opener at Fulham and an unused substitute against Crystal Palace last week.
Speaking after Monday’s loss, Klopp said: “Naby was injured [on Sunday]. We need further assessment but it doesn’t look like that he is in training [on Tuesday]. Maybe will know more [on Tuesday] but I don’t know. During the week it is not easy because we have 15 senior outfield players, I think, in training. That’s obviously not cool.”
With Liverpool very short of midfield options at present and two of their players – James Milner and Jordan Henderson – past their best, some fans were no doubt hopeful of a new arrival in the centre of the park this month.
However, that does not look set to happen, at least that is the opinion of transfer expert Fabrizio Romano:
“Liverpool have been dealt a potentially big blow as Naby Keita’s injury could be a long-term one,” Romano said.
“We’ve seen in the past that Liverpool under Klopp don’t tend to do panic buys – as things stand, the approach is the same.”
