Virgil van Dijk has taken to social media to send a message to Liverpool fans as he continues his return from injury. The Dutchman has been sidelined since suffering an ACL injury in the Merseyside derby last October following a challenge by Jordan Pickford. As a result of Van Dijk’s surgery, he was also forced to miss out on Euro 2020 this summer as he continues his rehabilitation. Speaking on Tuesday evening from the club’s training base in Salzburg, Jurgen Klopp revealed how his coaching staff are managing the Dutchman’s return.
Jurgen Klopp said: “No, they aren’t [at the same level as the others], but it’s different. Let’s start with: all four look really good, I have to say. Look really good. Now we are in constant talks with the medical department, the fitness department, the rehab department about what is right for them today: do they have to do maybe a little bit more than the rest of the group, do they have to do a little bit less? So, especially Virg and Joe will not have double sessions now for the first few days with the team; they have a second session of the day but it’s with Andreas Schlumberger, with the rehab department, physiotherapy, these kinds of things. That’s for these two. [They] look really good. I don’t know exactly when we can make the next steps but it will happen in the next four weeks, for sure – we will get a big step forward.”
Liverpool will face FC Wacker Innsbruck, VfB Stuttgart, Mainz 05 and Hertha Berlin with a mini-game twist during their time in Austria.