Joel Matip has been ruled out for the rest of Liverpool’s title-winning season.
Matip suffered a toe injury in the Premier League champions’ draw at Everton on June 21 and was sidelined for Crystal Palace’s visit just three days later.
The Cameroon international previously suffered knee problems earlier during the current campaign which sidelined up for just over three months.
His absence for the season’s final seven fixtures means that Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Dejan Lovren are the Reds’ only available senior centre-backs.
“This season I will be not back on the pitch but for next season,” Matip told the club’s official website.
“I hope I’m going to be quite early a direct help for the team.”
Prior to injury, Matip’s form led Jurgen Klopp to hail his 2016 free transfer from Schalke as ‘maybe one of the best pieces of business we did’.