Jeremy Jacquet was left out of Liverpool's pre-season friendly against Sunderland on Saturday, with manager Andoni Iraola confirming the decision was due to a long-term shoulder injury. The French defender, signed from Rennes for £55 million in January, was allowed to finish the season in Ligue 1 before joining Liverpool. However, he underwent surgery for a shoulder problem and has not played since February 7.
Cautious Return
Speaking to LFCTV, Iraola said: “With Jeremy, we decided to take it easy with him. He has been a lot of months without playing with a shoulder injury. So, I think we are going to take it easy with him. He will play probably the last game of this US tour and he will have time to have minutes.”
Squad Depth Concerns
Iraola also addressed an injury to Joe Gomez, who limped off after less than ten minutes in the same match. “Probably the worst news has been straight away the injury of Joe,” said Iraola. “We were happy because we were going through training without losing any players and unluckily for us we've lost Joe straight away.” Liverpool have already seen Ibrahima Konaté leave for Real Madrid, Giovanni Leoni is recovering from an ACL rupture, and Virgil van Dijk, now 35, has a contract expiring next summer. Jacquet, who was also chased by Chelsea in January, is expected to play a key role given the defensive shortages.
