Liverpool learn Elliott return timescale after youngster goes under the knife
Rising Liverpool sensation Harvey Elliott is expected to return to action this season after a positive update on his horror ankle injury.
The 18-year-old was carried off in Sunday’s 3-0 win at Elland Road with an injury which left some of his team-mates visibly distressed following a tackle which saw Pascal Struijk sent off – a dismissal Leeds are appealing against. Elliott underwent an operation on Tuesday and will subsequently begin a programme of rehabilitation.
“Harvey sustained a fracture dislocation of his left ankle during the game,” club doctor Dr Jim Moxon told liverpoolfc.com (via the PA).
“We were able to reduce the dislocation immediately on the pitch and Harvey had surgery today to repair the fracture and ligaments damaged in the incident.
“The operation was a success so his comeback starts now.
“We won’t put pressure on him by setting a specific timeframe beyond being able to say with confidence we expect him to feature again later in the season following our rehab programme.”
The news will come as a positive to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who had been awaiting news of the surgery and said Elliott “was in the best possible place. He took it (and) accepted already that he would be out for a while”.
Goalkeeper Alisson Becker said: “The medical staff obviously had to work hard to give him the best conditions for recovery but Harvey knows that we are here for him whenever he needs us.
“We are a real unit as a team. We celebrate together, and when an important player gets injured we are injured together for him.”
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Meanwhile, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has warmly applauded the longevity of AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic – but the veteran Swede will miss out on a return to English football having sustained an injury ruling him out against the Reds.
“He’s the man for exceptional moments in a game,” Klopp said. “If he’s not playing the probably Olivier Giroud is playing, or Rebic is playing, or whatever; all slightly different profile, but all really good.
“It will be absolutely interesting. But Zlatan is, for sure, one of the best players ever in this game.
“He knows that and he says that, I like that about him. That’s the confidence he brings into all the game.
“That he’s still physically that fit is absolutely incredible and just shows maybe some careers ended too early, because there was still a little bit of fuel in the tank.
“He squeezes every drop out of his body. He wants to stay in the game as long as possible – and rightly so, he is absolutely capable of playing in each league in the world still.”
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