Joe Gomez is expected to miss a “significant” portion of the remainder of the 2020/21 season after undergoing knee surgery, Liverpool have announced.
The versatile defender was feared lost for the rest of the campaign after breaking down with a serious non-contact injury during England training at St George’s Park ahead of Thursday’s friendly against the Republic of Ireland.
Gomez underwent scans to determine the extent of the injury and later had surgery in London on Thursday morning to repair a tendon in his left knee.
Crucially, Liverpool confirmed that there had been “no damage to any other associated knee ligaments”.
Gomez will now begin the rehabilitation process with Liverpool’s medical staff, though the club have not ruled him out for the entire season at this stage.
“No timescale is being placed upon his return, though the issue is likely to rule him out for a significant part of the remainder of 2020-21,” Liverpool said in a statement.
Liverpool are already expected to be without Virgil van Dijk for the rest of the season after the Dutch defender underwent surgery on a knee ligament injury last month.
Fabinho is also sidelined with a thigh problem, while Trent Alexander-Arnold withdrew from the England squad earlier this week with a calf issue that is expected to keep him out for around a month.
Liverpool’s headline summer signing Thiago Alcantara and fellow midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are also dealing with injuries at present.
As it stands, Joel Matip - no stranger himself to injury issues this season - is currently Jurgen Klopp’s only fit and available senior centre-back ahead of the Premier League meeting with Leicester City at Anfield on November 21.
Gomez’s injury has led to more anger over the hectic fixture schedule caused by the coronavirus pandemic, with England boss Gareth Southgate warning on Wednesday that further setbacks were inevitable.
