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Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has revealed that defensive duo Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez are slowly being integrated into first-team training.
The duo went under the knife last season and missed the majority of the season, and it remains to be seen if they will return in time for the new season.
Joel Matip also missed a large part of last season, and Klopp has explained that the Cameroonian is close to returning to normal training compared to the duo of van Dijk and Gomez.
Trent Alexander-Arnold missed Euro 2020 because of a hamstring issue, and is also back in training.
"Let’s start with: all four look really good, I have to say. Look really good. So, especially Virg [van Dijk] and Joe [Gomez] will not have double sessions now for the first few days with the team; they have a second session of the day but it’s with Andreas Schlumberger, with the rehab department, physiotherapy, these kinds of things. That’s for these two. [They] look really good. I don’t know exactly when we can make the next steps but it will happen in the next four weeks, for sure – we will get a big step forward,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
“Joel [Matip] looks good, absolutely, he is the closest probably to normal training and then we will see when we get him started for playing. Trent [Alexander-Arnold] was a serious enough injury but now not a major one, I would say. He is close but in the moment, probably the next five or six days he has a special programme: from time to time with the team, probably from time to time by himself. But then in five or six or seven days he should be in normal team training,” Klopp added.
Ibrahima Konate and Nat Phillips set to play a key role for Liverpool in pre-season
It’s no surprise that Liverpool are approaching pre-season games with caution. Van Dijk and Gomez have started training with the rest of their teammates, but it remains to be seen how much they will feature throughout pre-season.
In van Dijk, Gomez, and Matip’s absence, Nat Phillips filled in and put in some impressive displays for Liverpool last season.
Phillips is expected to once again feature heavily in pre-season alongside new signing Ibrahima Konate. The Frenchman joined Liverpool's training camp on time despite being part of the French Under-23 side more than a month ago.
Liverpool are currently in Austria for their pre-season training and will play against FC Wacker Innsbruck next Tuesday in their first match this month.
