Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne faces at least six months on the sidelines after suffering a cruciate ligament injury.
Clyne sustained the problem shortly before he was due to be substituted during the 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in South Bend on the Reds’ opening match of their US tour last Friday.
The 28-year-old travelled to Boston for the second leg of the tour as Liverpool waited for the swelling around the knee to subside.
But one the extent of the damage to the anterior cruciate ligament was ascertained, the right-back flew back to England late on Sunday rather than follow the squad to New York for the final game against Sporting Lisbon.
Clyne is in the final 12 months of his contract with Liverpool having received a number of enquiries for the player over recent months with former club Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, where he spent the second half of last season on loan, among those interested.
While Clyne’s injury is a devastating blow for the player, Liverpool’s medical staff are at least encouraged by the fact the injury has been limited to the ACL, which means the player should be available again this season rather than being absent for closer to nine months.
The injury, though, is almost certain to impact on the player’s hopes of a deal this summer.
“Clearly an injury of this nature isn’t a happy moment for any player, but the silver lining for him is that, according to the medical guys, it’s a straightforward ACL injury. This means fixing it and coming back from it should follow a path that is free from pitfalls and complications.
“At the moment there isn’t much more to say beyond we’ll all support Clyney in whatever way we can and we look forward to seeing him back on the pitch as soon as responsibly possible.
“He is such a sound professional and is naturally very fit and strong, so all these things are in his favour.”
