14 September 2023 , 19:21
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Ibrahima Konate is back in training for Liverpool - giving manager Jurgen Klopp a solution to another defensive headache this weekend.
The Reds boss was down to two fit senior centre halves before the international break, with Konate sidelined through injury and Virgil van Dijk suspended, and Trent Alexander-Arnold missed England duty with a hamstring strain.
In the absence of Liverpool ’s first choice central defensive partnership, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip performed admirably in the victory over Aston Villa which moved Liverpool into third in the Premier League.
Konate came through training this week unscathed after returning from the thigh injury he sustained in mid-August, offering the manager the chance to use Gomez at right back in Alexander-Arnold’s absence.
That would allow him to reunite his first choice pair of Van Dijk and Konate in Europe next Thursday, with the English club beginning their Europa League campaign in Austria, against LASK.
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While that is a major boost for Klopp, there was less good news with both Alexander-Arnold and Thiago not yet joining in the main training session, with the pair understood to be on individual training programmes as they return from injury.
Alexander-Arnold missed was forced out of the England squad with a hamstring injury picked up in the win over Villa just before the international break, and Klopp will take no risks with such an injury.
Thiago was due to be back this week, but the manager will not push the midfielder, especially after new signing Ryan Gravenberch has completed a full fortnight of training with the Reds, after pulling out of Holland U21 duty to concentrate on settling in at Anfield.
Ibrahima Konate returned to training this week, having been out of action with a thigh injury (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)However, Gravenberch's decision did cause some controversy, with Dutch boss Ronald Koeman and U21's manager Michael Reiziger both criticising the midfielder for withdrawing from the squad. "We are not happy with Ryan Gravenberch refusing to play for his country," Koeman said earlier this month. "We don't like it when players refuse to play for the U21 team.
"Nigel de Jong (the Dutch FA's technical director) has spoken with Jeremie Frimpong about this. He still wants to play for us, but we decided he will not be called up. You can see it as punishment. I believe you are obliged to play for your country."
Reizger said: "I hope Ryan Gravenberch will learn from this. It doesn't mean he will just be called up again. He needs to learn from this. Playing for your country is an honour, you want to be part of that. Plus the fame you can achieve with it.
"You battle for your country, you have the entire nation behind you. At your club you only have one part of the city behind you. I don't like Gravenberch's choice. I have told him this. If you can join the National Team, you do this with your heart. And you don't start to think about yourself. But I want players who want to play with their heart for our country."