Arne Slot has confirmed a Liverpool blow, as he has stated a new signing is “out until the end of the international break” which means he will miss two big games.
The Reds have had a huge summer in terms of transfers. They won the Premier League last season, and have made some big improvements to their squad as they look to go back to back.
The seven signings Liverpool have made cover essentially every area of the pitch. Two goalkeepers in Freddie Woodman and Armin Pecsi have joined, three defenders came in, in Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez and Giovanni Leoni, as well as attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz and striker Hugo Ekitike.
But they have suffered a blow, with one of the new men already having to spend time on the sidelines. Frimpong played 60 minutes in the Premier League opener against Bournemouth, and manager Slot has confirmed he had to take him off due to injury which will keep him sidelined for a couple of games.
“The medical team was completely right about Jeremie, to tell me I had to take him off because he’s out until the end of the international break,” Slot said.
“I think I got criticised a bit by taking him off. [The medical staff] felt he had an issue in his hamstring. Good call to take him off otherwise he might have been out for longer. We expect to have him back after the international break.”
The games Frimpong will miss are against tough opposition, in Newcastle and Arsenal. There is a chance that right-back deputy Conor Bradley is not ready for the game, but Slot has stated he himself is now returning from an injury.
“Conor played for a few minutes with us today, for the first time,” the manager said.
When the international break is over, Liverpool have a considerably easier game – against Burnley – than the two before it, so Frimpong’s injury has come at a bad time, not only given he’s played just 60 minutes in the league.
This is not the transition the Reds will have wanted after they saw Trent Alexander-Arnold leave for Real Madrid in the summer.
Frimpong was one of four new Liverpool signings – along with Kerkez, Wirtz and Ekitike – to start the 4-2 win over Bournemouth on the Premier League’s opening day, though, and the others have come through fine, so at least that is a positive for the Reds.
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