Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been ruled out of Liverpool’s new season.
Oxlade-Chamberlain’s World Cup dream was dashed by a cruciate knee ligament injury sustained in the Champions League semi-final win over Roma.
The midfielder had been expected to return to action with the Reds by the tail end of the calendar year but is now set to miss the entirety of this campaign.
Both Oxlade-Chamberlain and Anfield chiefs were made aware of the full extent of his problem just days after the Roma match on April 24.
But the player did not want the news to overshadow Liverpool’s preparations for the Champions League final against Real Madrid just four weeks later.
“It feels like now is an appropriate time to tell people that for ‘Ox’ this coming season will be about focusing on recovery and rehab,” said Jurgen Klopp.
“We have known this from pretty much the day after he got the injury and after the successful surgery, we were sure of it. I hope everyone treats this information responsibly.
“There has been no change, no setback – it’s exactly on the schedule we expected and planned for. The new information is that we’re now giving more detail publicly.
“It is typical of Ox that he didn’t want the news to overshadow the end of the season and, to be quite honest, we thought we could wait and tell people at an appropriate time.
“His surgery – which he had on the day of our second leg in Roma – has been completely successful and his recovery has started superbly well.
“But the truth of the matter is that we are preparing this season knowing he will not be with us on the pitch for competitive matches for the majority of it.
“If we do see him back this season it will be a bonus.”