Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been included in Liverpool’s squad for the knockout stages of the Champions League as he targets a comeback in the second half of the campaign.
The midfielder has been sidelined since sustaining a serious knee injury during the Reds’ semi-final first leg win over AS Roma in last season’s competition.
The full extent of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s issue was not revealed until after his teammates suffered defeat to Real Madrid in the tournament’s final in May, so as not to distract from preparations.
At that point, the club’s medical staff did not expect the former Arsenal man to feature at all in 2018–19, with short-term focus on a gruelling rehabilitation process.
However, Oxlade-Chamberlain has made remarkable progress since resuming running last month - so much so that Klopp suggested a return to full training in February is a possibility.
He said: “No pressure on him but it looks like February maybe being back in normal training, maybe late February, March.
“That gives us hope that he will be back this season.”
The 25-year-old could now make a bid for inclusion in the squad for the second leg of Liverpool’s last-16 tie against Bayern Munich - a trip to the Allianz Arena on March 13.
The news come as a significant boost to a squad that has suffered a number of injury setbacks recently.
The Reds are set to be without Joe Gomez for a number of weeks after he underwent surgery on a leg break on Monday.
Meanwhile, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum and Dejan Lovren missed yesterday’s 1-1 draw with West Ham due to fitness issues.
