‘I had lunch with him, at least he can eat!’ – Klopp sees positives in Alisson’s recovery

Alisson is “not that close” to returning to action at Liverpool, admits Jurgen Klopp, but the Brazilian goalkeeper is progressing well in his recovery from a calf injury.

The South American shot-stopper has been sidelined since picking up an untimely knock on the opening day of the 2019-20 Premier League campaign.

He was laid low during a meeting with Norwich and has been forced to pass the gloves at Anfield to Adrian in his absence.

It was quickly identified that Alisson would only be missing for a matter of weeks, rather than a number of months, but Liverpool are still eager to avoid taking any unnecessary risks.

With that in mind, Klopp is not expecting to have the 26-year-old back at his disposal any time soon.

He told reporters when asked for an update on Alisson:  “Not that close. Nobody told me that I have to consider him.

“I had lunch with him today, so at least he can eat. He’s in good shape, a good mood. It will take time. I don’t know exactly. No date in my mind, or nobody has told me.

“We want to give him the time he needs but it looks good.

“He was on crutches, they are not there anymore. He walks normal and can really train now completely different from a week now. From now it should go quick, but how quickly I don’t know.”

Klopp reported no fresh injury setbacks for Liverpool ahead of their home date with Arsenal on Saturday, with long-term absentees such as Naby Keita the only ones unavailable.

He refused to be drawn on whether there could be further movement out of his squad before transfer windows slam shut across Europe.

Dejan Lovren has been linked with a move elsewhere, but his current boss is reluctant to be drawn into a debate on speculation.

Klopp was, however, prepared to admit that he would like to see the Premier League tweak their schedule once again so that clubs in the English top-flight are not left in a situation again where the market is closed to them but still open for others.

The German said: “I don’t care when it closes but I think it should be at the same time. England should have said it was for all or nobody.

“What’s the benefit for the Premier League? We don’t really have a problem but other teams have key players on the market and anything can happen. You want to focus on the future but that’s not possible when a door is open.”