Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss almost the whole of next season as he focuses on rehabilitation from a serious knee injury.Jurgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, said that it was good to go public on Chamberlain’s expected period of recovery and further added that the surgery on the winger went on successfully.
“It feels like now is an appropriate time to tell people that for Ox this coming season will be about focusing on recovery and rehab. We have known this from pretty much the day after he got the injury and after the successful surgery, we were sure of it. I hope everyone treats this information responsibly. There has been no change, no setback – it’s exactly on the schedule we expected and planned for. The new information is that we’re now giving more detail publicly.” Klopp said.
Liverpool added that they wanted not the news to overshadow end of last season that saw them reach the UEFA Champions League and lost to Real Madrid. The club has further admitted they are preparing for the 2018/19 season without the former Arsenal midfielder. “It is typical of Ox that he didn’t want the news to overshadow the end of the season and, to be quite honest, we thought we could wait and tell people at an appropriate time. His surgery – which he had on the day of our second leg in Rome – has been completely successful and his recovery has started superbly well. But the truth of the matter is that we are preparing this season knowing he will not be with us on the pitch for competitive matches for the majority of it. If we do see him back this season it will be a bonus.” the manager added.
It is so important – because of how valuable and important he is to what we are looking to do here in the coming seasons – that the focus is on doing this right and not rushed. Ox is completely on board with this approach.“He is such an outstandingly good person and someone who even when not playing is integral to the heartbeat of Melwood. I cannot wait to have him back with us for matches, but we will wait for him and we will show the patience that is required to make sure he comes back ready to continue where he left off: as one of the most outstanding performers in European football at that moment.” Liverpool has already signed Fabinho, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita in preparation for the next campaign.