Liverpool have confirmed a 31-man travelling squad for the opening leg of their pre-season tour of the United States, with six injured players included despite their ongoing rehabilitation. The Reds departed for their Chicago base on Monday afternoon ahead of friendlies against Sunderland, Wrexham and Leeds United.
Injured stars travel to USA
Centre-back Giovanni Leoni, forward Hugo Ekitike and right-back Conor Bradley are among those named despite all three remaining on the road to recovery from long-term injuries. They will pursue their rehabilitation Stateside alongside midfielders Wataru Endo and Stefan Bajcetic and goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros. New head coach Andoni Iraola is eager to utilise the trip for team-building purposes.
Jaros faces a likely absence until Christmas as he works his way back from the knee ligament injury that ended last season's loan stint at Ajax in February. New centre-back acquisition Jeremy Jacquet is nevertheless fit for selection, having been unavailable since undergoing shoulder surgery shortly after Liverpool secured a £60million agreement with Rennes in January.
World Cup absentees
The Reds are missing their eight-strong World Cup contingent for the start of the tour. Alexander Isak, Florian Wirtz and Ryan Gravenberch are anticipated to join the group before the second fixture against Wrexham, while Alisson Becker may feature in the final match. Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo are both set for prolonged rests, while World Cup finalists Alexis Mac Allister and £34.5million winger Victor Munoz won't return to the AXA Training Centre until well into next month.
Academy prospects included
The absentees mean Liverpool have strengthened their touring party with numerous Academy prospects, most notably highly-rated 16-year-old Josh Abe, who pledged his short-term future to the Reds earlier this summer despite significant interest from Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City. Ifeanyi Ndukwe, the 18-year-old centre-back who joined from Austria Vienna this summer, is also among the travelling squad, though Jayden Danns has been left out following a complication in his rehabilitation from a long-standing hamstring problem.
Another 18-year-old, Will Wright, is also included and may receive substantial game time owing to a shortage of senior attacking alternatives beyond Federico Chiesa, with Academy striker Josh Sonni-Lambie also making the trip.
Full squad
Liverpool's 31-man squad in full: Gomez, Endo, Jacquet, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Bradley, Chiesa, Leoni, Jones, Elliott, Tsimikas, Ekitike, Mamardashvili, Woodman, Frimpong, Abe, Nyoni, Bajcetic, Chambers, Ramsay, Scanlon, McConnell, Jaros, Koumas, Morrison, Ngumoha, Wright, Hall, Sonni-Lambie, Ndukwe, Davies.
