Harvey Elliott suffered a “bad injury” in a challenge which saw Leeds United sub Pascal Struijk sent-off, says Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, with the medical team needing to deal with an apparent ankle dislocation before the 18-year-old headed to hospital.
The Reds picked up a 3-0 win in a match which saw Mohamed Salah net his 100th Premier League goal, with Elliott starting once more - his fourth league start in succession at the start of the campaign as he looks to become a first-team regular.
Just past the hour mark, however, with Jordan Henderson poised to come on as substitute in a move which would have seen Elliott withdrawn, Strujik’s challenge saw the teenager immediately go down in pain and he was eventually stretchered off after lengthy treatment.
“It is a bad injury. Ankle dislocated, we could put it back. He’s now in the hospital, so we have to wait,” Klopp said to broadcasters after full-time.
“He played an incredible game again, he’s an incredible player. Now he’s out. Do I want such a young boy to have this experience that early in his career? No, but now it’s the case and we have to be there – and we will be there.
“We will play football without him, but we will wait for him as well. Because obviously he’s a top, top, top player.”
Klopp added to his initial thoughts in his post-match press conference with the media, by which time Elliott had posted to social media having arrived at hospital.
“Thank you for the messages guys! Road to recovery, YNWA”, the teenager wrote on his Instagram story, along with a photo with his thumb up.
“First and foremost, it’s one of the few Instagram posts I love because if he sends that already then it shows he has not that much pain anymore, that’s great news,” Klopp said.
“I think we all saw it, the ankle was not in the right place anymore. The medical department put it in the right place again, which is very important really in this moment that it goes quick. Apart from that, there is not a lot of good things to say about it.
“Obviously it’s a bad injury and we have to wait now for further examinations, assessments or whatever, scans, and that’s what we do.”
