Florian Wirtz missed Liverpool’s last two games due to injury, but Arne Slott could welcome a £116m signing fee when the Reds take on Wolves in the FA Cup
Florian Wirtz is nearing a return (Image: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)
Liverpool manager Arne Slott has confirmed that Florian Wirths has returned to training and could feature in the FA Cup tie against Wolves. Wirtz, 22, was injured during the Reds’ warm-up before the Reds’ 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest two weeks ago.
The German has missed Liverpool’s last two games and his creativity was greatly missed as Slott’s side suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League on Tuesday. Coincidentally, Liverpool return to Molineux for Friday’s FA Cup fifth round game, with Wirtz also expected to travel.
On Wednesday, the £116m signing from the Reds trained with his team-mates for the first time to progress his recovery. “He trained 50-50 with the team yesterday and has taken the next step in his rehabilitation,” Slott admitted in Thursday’s pre-match press conference.
“Let’s see where he is today. Best case scenario, we might be able to reach him for a few minutes tomorrow. Everyone else is fine.”
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Slott reported good health for the game against the Timberwolves. However, the Reds remain without Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley, Wataru Endo, Giovanni Leoni and Stefan Bicetic.
Injuries have been a theme for Liverpool this season, but Slott insists he is happy with the way the club strengthened their squad last summer. “I’m happy with how we did last summer. We signed so many great players, but you can’t expect so many players to be injured,” explained the Dutchman.
“The adaptation is predictable. Our model is that we don’t have 25 players here. It hurts more when you have three or four long-term injuries. We knew this was the model when we arrived and we’re happy with it.”
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Florian Wirtz returns to training (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Slott has asked his players to respond after the midweek defeat and changes could be made. He added: “There are several (choices), but not 11.”
“I always have the option to bring players in and they can bring players in and start them. It’s not the first time this season that we’re three days after a game where we dropped a point, but we’ve seen us do quite a bit this season. We have to be better than last time.”
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