Klopp reveals next plan for Van Dijk after tough return to Liverpool action

Virgil van Dijk Hertha Berlin v Liverpool July 2021

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he hopes to give Virgil van Dijk more minutes in Thursday’s pre-season friendly matches.

The Reds play Bologna in two 60-minute affairs as they continue their preparations for the new campaign. Centre-back Van Dijk made his first appearance since October last Thursday but struggled. Indeed, Hertha won 4-3 and the Dutchman could not win his one-on-one with Stefan Jovetic.

Still, he has only recently recovered from his serious knee injury. As such, he will need more minutes to determine his progress.

Fellow centre-back Joe Gomez, who has been out since November, also made his comeback against Hertha.

Ahead of Thursday’s hour-long matches, Klopp was asked by Liverpool’s official website if he will field two different teams.

“Hopefully, yes. That’s how it looks in the moment. I want to make it really clear, we push nothing. We just don’t,” the manager said.

“We wait a little bit, the players come, we have now with Dr Andreas Schlumberger a real specialist who is in constant talks and always observing everything.

“We know exactly how they feel – how they really feel and not what they tell us because they obviously are desperate to play again.”

Neuhaus the man to replace Wijnaldum?

Neuhaus the man to replace Wijnaldum?

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has recently “reaffirmed” his interest in Borussia Monchengladbach's midfielder Florian Neuhaus, as they look to find a replacement for the departed Georginio Wijnaldum.

Klopp added that he felt pleased with how Van Dijk and Gomez reacted to their returns.

“It looks good, this morning [it was a] normal training session,” he said.

“Sometimes in moments we swap Virgil and Joe a little bit so maybe the intensity doesn’t get too high, but in general it looks really good.

“How many minutes on Thursday, I don’t know but there will be some minutes for sure.”

Elsewhere last Thursday, Sadio Mane, Takumi Minamino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all scored for Liverpool.

Liverpool learn target’s transfer fee

Renato.Sanches.Lille_.2021.TEAMtalk1

In other news, Liverpool have reportedly learned the fee for Lille midfielder Renato Sanches.

The Reds have supposedly made him a target to replace Georginio Wijnaldum, who left for Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent.

Sanches, meanwhile, has resurrected his career in style in Ligue 1.


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