Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher will miss pre-season with a broken wrist – as the Reds prepare to assess the fitness of Xherdan Shaqiri.
Kelleher has undergone a small operation on the injury, which he suffered while on holiday, and is expected to be sidelined for up to six weeks.
The timing is a bitter blow for the 20-year-old Irishman, who while yet to make his first-team debut was among the substitutes in the Champions League final win over Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid on June 1.
With Alisson Becker being given an extended break following Brazil's Copa America final against Peru on Sunday, Kelleher would have expected an opportunity to impress Jurgen Klopp during Liverpool 's pre-season friendly programme.
Instead, the goalkeeper is undergoing a rehabilitation programme with the club's medical department and will be out of action until at least next month.
With Simon Mignolet not due back in training until next week, Liverpool are expected to start pre-season with youngsters Kamil Grabara and Vitezslav Jaros as their available goalkeepers.
A group of 16 Liverpool players, along with Klopp and coaching staff members, returned to Melwood on Saturday to begin preparations for the new campaign.
Shaqiri is among several squad members yet to return due to international commitments earlier this summer.
And the Reds are preparing to further assess the calf problem that saw the winger limp out of Switzerland's UEFA Nations League defeat to England in June.
Shaqiri was forced off midway through the second half of his country's eventual penalty shoot-out defeat in the third-placed play-off in Portugal on June 9.
