Nathaniel Clyne injury: Liverpool defender facing lengthy lay-off after rupturing knee ligament in pre-season

Clyne suffered the injury just before being substituted in the club's friendly with Borussia Dortmund in New York on Friday

Ben Burrows
Wednesday 24 July 2019 13:14 EDT
Comments
Liverpool victory bus greets thousands of fans in city centre

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament during the club's pre-season tour of the United States.

Clyne suffered the injury just before being substituted in the club's friendly with Borussia Dortmund in New York on Friday.

The 28-year-old right-back waited for the swelling to subside and after the level of damage was ascertained flew back to the UK late on Sunday.

Clyne only has 12 months left remaining on his contract and looked set to depart the club this summer on a short or long-term deal.

But the injury, which is likely to sideline him for much of the upcoming season, has put paid to any move away.

“What can I say other than how gutted we all are for Clyney. He was training and playing so well - he was in outstanding shape," manager Jurgen Klopp told the club's website.

“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.”

Clyne, who spent last season on loan at fellow Premier League side Bournemouth, was sidelined for most of the 2017-18 season with a back injury.

And he's now set for another lengthy lay-off with his long-term future at Anfield now firmly in doubt.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in