Jurgen Klopp has insisted that Adam Lallana still remains a key player in his Liverpool squad.
The England international has endured a miserable 18 months on Merseyside after suffering a string of injuries that have severely limited his game time.
Lallana made a few appearances for the Reds over the Christmas period and was expected to line up against Wolves in the FA Cup earlier this week, however the former Southampton man pulled up in training, which has now ruled him out for this Saturday’s game against Brighton.
Lallana’s struggles to play for the Reds has inevitably led to speculation suggesting the 30-year old could be on the move this month, however Klopp insists Lallana is still very much an important squad player.
Talking ahead of this weekend’s game, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo, Klopp explained how Lallana has been able to keep bouncing back from disappointment, saying:
We are in close contact and it’s just a shame for Adam.
It’s not serious, he’ll probably be available for next week. It was only a little thing but it was enough to put him out of the Wolves game.
Of course it’s not nice, who would like that after the season he’s had? But you can’t change things that happened a day ago or an hour ago.
You have to deal with it and he’s dealing well with it, he won’t lose confidence. He’s been confident in all the sessions and has helped us a lot. He is a very mature person, it’s all good.
It’s unlucky and a real shame that it happened. We were all like ‘oh no, please don’t do that’. It’s always bad when you lose a player but especially at this moment. Nobody likes it but you have to deal with it.
However Klopp continued by explaining how Lallana still knows he has a place in his squad, saying:
I am still completely positive. Would I like to have him available? Yes, 100%.
It’s brilliant to have him around as he can cool games down, he can be creative between the lines, he still has speed and all these things.
It’s not cool to lose him in a session, we didn’t have many training injuries this season. He stretched to get the ball and it happened. Nothing else to say about it.
Could he be in a better place mentally? Yes, if he was playing and had scored 20 goals in the last 10 games. But everything is fine. Adam knows that we need him.
