Jurgen Klopp has revealed Virgil van Dijk is in line for a return to action as Liverpool gear up for their latest friendly match against Hertha Berlin.
Van Dijk hasn’t played any game for the Reds since undergoing successful surgery on his cruciate ligament knee injury last year.
The Dutchman missed the majority of the 2020-21 season as result and decided against joining the Netherlands at Euro 2020 in order to focus on his recovery, and Klopp has now confirmed he is close to a long-awaited comeback.
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Liverpool manager gave an update on Van Dijk ahead of his team’s meeting with Bundesliga side Hertha at Tivoli Stadion in Innsbruck on Thursday.
“I hope, I am not sure, that there is the opportunity that Virgil could play a few minutes,” Klopp has told the club’s official website. “He looks really good in training and maybe we can bring [him in], but I need to have some final conversations. He looks ready and we will see.”
Klopp was also asked about Joe Gomez, who has been out of football action for up to nine months due to his own serious knee injury.
The German coach doesn’t expect the player to play against Hertha, but hinted he could feature against Athletic Club on August 8 – a friendly game that comes six days before Liverpool begin their Premier League season away at Norwich City.
“If you see the games now as part of their rehab training, that makes sense,” Klopp added. “Joey is very close. There is no race between the two of them; they had different injuries and stuff like this, but [he is] very close.
“If Virgil can play now 20 then probably Joey can in the game after. We will see. In training they both look really good.
“I think from time to time there are some pictures of them from training sessions and everyone can see how good it looks, but there is no rush for us. It is not about they now need five pre-season games to be ready for the start or whatever.
“It is a long season and we prepare them after these very, very serious injuries for the rest of their careers and not for the first game of the season. Losing a little bit of patience for them to return as a supporter or as a coach even is not bad, it just means they were pretty good and we want them to be back in the team.”
