Liverpool suffer from ‘new injury’ as four midfielders could miss AFC Bournemouth fixture

Liverpool squad news as Curtis Jones is injured.

Curtis Jones looks set to miss Liverpool’s match against AFC Bournemouth. The midfielder suffered a twisted ankle in training earlier this week, according to The Athletic, which ruled him out of action ahead of Saturday’s fixture with the Cherries at Anfield (3pm BST).

Jones came off the bench in the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the 2023/24 Premier League curtain-opener last week. The 22-year-old was not photographed with the rest of his teammates at the AXA Training Center on Wednesday, with his injury likely explaining his absence. It is hoped that Jones’ problem is not too serious and that he will be back for the trip to Newcastle United next week, but it is a blow for Jurgen Klopp who is already lacking opportunities in midfield.

Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Thiago Alcantara is back in training but still not ready to join him as he underwent hip surgery in April. Stefan Bajcetic underwent adductor surgery in March and is not yet considered fit to play.

Meanwhile, there is uncertainty whether newcomer Wataru Endo will get a work permit in time for his performance. The 30-year-old joined Liverpool from Stuttgart for a fee of £16m, it was announced on Friday. Klopp confirmed the player is physically ready, having already started the season at Stuttgart, but said: “We’ll see.”

As things stand, Klopp’s suitable midfield options for Bournemouth are summer signings Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister, who both made their Chelsea debuts. Cody Gakpo was dropped off in the engine room at Stamford Bridge while Harvey Elliott impressed coming off the bench. Youngster James McConnell was given a place among the substitutes.

More news………

Liverpool ‘won’t use money as excuse’ – despite influence of Chelsea and Saudi Arabian transfer

Jurgen Klopp has insisted Liverpool will not use the money as an “excuse” in the transfer window, despite growing influence and cash flow from Chelsea and Saudi Arabia.

The big stories this week centered on Liverpool’s defeat to Chelsea in deals for Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, who have both opted to join the London club.

The Reds have responded by signing Wataru Endo, but this has only fueled the fire in many quarters when it comes to the club’s appeal, something Klopp has rejected.

Klopp often provides glowing answers to questions at his press conferences and Friday was no different after being asked if the club is having trouble signing players this summer.

“I’m not sure if it has anything to do with Liverpool, to be honest. More difficult to dress? No,” Klopp insisted.

“Everything is more difficult, everything. There are reasons, you all know them. You’ve probably written about this before, these stories aren’t what I have to say about them. “But it’s really difficult, there are a lot of things that have changed since last year.”

Alluding to Chelsea’s never-ending transfer cases, Klopp continued: “Some clubs do it differently and nobody understands 100 per cent how it works.”

“As a normal club it’s really difficult to follow them. We just watch what they do and that’s fine, not my problem. I don’t blame anyone for what it is.”

Klopp also cited Saudi Arabia’s growing power to throw “infinite sums of money” at players making life “more difficult”, but that played no part in convincing a target to move to Anfield.

“Also, Saudi Arabia is not making it easy. Our window ends on August 31st [note: it’s September 1st] and their window is still open, so for players who aren’t happy, they will come back.

“It’s okay if there’s another league that’s growing, it’s football, that’s fine. We don’t have the right to say it’s not allowed, China has tried, the United States could still try. No problem.

“But infinite money creates problems, that’s how it is. We sit here and [think] ‘what can we do now’. It would be nice if someone could come up with a solution, some rules – I don’t know.

“Yes, it has become more difficult, but not to convince players to go to Liverpool,” he continued.

“One hundred percent, if you called a million players, they would come right away. We just have to make sure you pick the right one, our timing is different from others. “We can’t just spend and watch later, that’s the way things are.
It is good.

“I’m here and I’m very happy with the transfer window right now, our transfer window.

“I know what happened last week, I know what football fans are like and I know they would rather bring in a £110m or £150m player, and your club can do it.

“This is quite nice, but in the end the pitch is the same size, the player doesn’t grow with the money he costs, it’s quite the opposite. “I’m really happy for the moment. We keep looking, we keep looking.

“We will do everything we can to make the best decisions for this club and we won’t use a second of money or anything as an excuse. We just do it with everything we have. That’s the idea. “We do it our way, we are here and we are ready to fight.”