Liverpool Injury News: Klopp Offers Update On Mane + Player Ruled Out For 3 Months

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has offered an update on Sadio Mane’s fitness situation but Nathaniel Clyne has been cruelly ruled out for 3 months with a back injury.

Mane was sent home from international duty with Senegal over the weekend after aggravating a hamstring injury during the win over South Africa on Friday night.

The Liverpool attacker had only just returned from a month on the sidelines after making a swift recovery from a hamstring strain that he sustained during last month’s international break.

Mane was able to start during the win over West Ham last weekend but it seems he aggravated the injury while playing for Senegal in their World Cup qualifier and has now flown back to Merseyside.

The 25-year-old is due at Melwood on Tuesday to be assessed by the Liverpool medical team and Klopp has admitted it’s a concern to hear Mane has picked up another hamstring problem.

However, the Reds boss stressed they must determine the full extent of the issue before his possible availability for the Southampton game this weekend can be determined.

After congratulating Senegal for reaching the World Cup finals, Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com:

“Specifically on him returning to Melwood early to be with us; obviously it is a concern that the hamstring injury is again on the agenda and it will be critical for us to monitor and manage that in the coming days.

“At this stage we haven’t seen Sadio yet to properly assess the extent, but what is clear is that we will have to stay on top of this for the rest of the week and make sure we are careful in how we look after him.

“There has been really strong communication between ourselves and the Senegal team management to ensure the player is properly protected and looked after. We respect how important he is for Senegal and therefore it must always be the case that they get to make the decision when he is under their care.

“It should not be forgotten in Liverpool, either, how important it is to Sadio that he represents his country whenever he is fit enough to do so. He is so proud of his country and recognises what a role model he is for them.

“So, in this moment all I can really say with certainty is that we will assess Sadio as soon as he lands back in the country and make decisions on what rehab and treatment gives him the best chance of being back fit and strong for the important fixtures we have coming.”

We’ll have to wait and see how serious the problem is once Mane has been assessed but obviously it would be a huge blow to Liverpool if he’s ruled out for any significant period of time.

However, one player Klopp is certain to be without for the foreseeable future if Nathaniel Clyne as the Liverpool Echo are one of several media outlets reporting that the defender has undergone back surgery.

Clyne is yet to feature this season due to the troublesome injury that he sustained during pre-season in July and the newspaper says the right-back has now been forced to go under the knife.

The Echo claim Clyne had corrective surgery in London today and is expected to be out for up to three months in a bid to cure his long-standing back problems.

The 26-year-old was initially though to be close to returning to action last month but Klopp revealed recently that Clyne had suffered a set-back and it looks like it’s led to the player being ruled out until around February.

It’s a big blow for Liverpool to lose the England international ahead of what’s going to be a busy period but Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold are now going to have to continue to fill-in over the coming months.