Robertson ready to replace Milner
After becoming the Red’s third signing of the summer last week, Andrew Robertson could make his Liverpool debut during the club’s next fixture. This comes after last season’s left-back, James Milner, was substituted late on in the Premier League Asia Trophy final and is consequently being monitored by medical staff. Milner felt some discomfort in his quad during the friendly clash with Leicester City and has been set a specific training programme this week in order to bounce back from the injury. Although the knock isn’t being treated as serious, the Englishman is a doubt for the game against Hertha Berlin on Saturday. This could give Robertson the perfect opportunity to slot into the left side of defence, a position in which Liverpool fans will hope to see him more often than not during the upcoming campaign.
Robertson has been training with his new teammates for the first time this week at Melwood, due to the fact he signed in the middle of the club’s stay in Hong Kong. Two more familiar faces are set to be back in action this week having missed the trip. Emre Can is linking up with the squad again, amidst transfer speculation, following his extended break due to his involvement in the Confederations Cup, while Sadio Mane will be back in training as he has almost recovered from the knee injury that forced him to miss the end of last season.
Keita back on the shelf (for now)
Liverpool fans were wrongly getting excited yesterday after footage emerged of Naby Keita being involved in what was optimistically called “a training ground bust-up”. Keita was merely the centerpiece of an altercation which was caused by himself making a particularly robust challenge on a teammate during a drill. Nothing to see here.
The Reds appear to have finally ended their interest in Keita for this window, having had three big money bids rejected for the midfielder. Red Bull Leipzig are preparing for their Champions League debut and have constantly insisted that Keita is not for sale as they want as strong a squad as possible. As the 22-year-old has expressed a desire to move to Anfield, Liverpool are expected to go in again in 12 months, but this time a fee of £48million will be enough to trigger the Guinean international’s release clause.
Van Dijk left at home
It just wouldn’t be a Liverpool news update without a mention of both Keita and Van Dijk, would it? After news came out over the weekend that the Southampton captain was training by himself after refusing to play for the Saints, it appeared that a move was back on the cards. To add further fuel to that fire, Van Dijk has now been left out of the Southampton squad that will travel to France to take part in a training camp. The Dutchman is expected to go for up to £70million, which would require the Reds to break their transfer record for the second time this window.