CHICAGO — Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola confirmed striker Hugo Ekitike and defender Conor Bradley are still “way off” a return to full fitness, with both players continuing their rehabilitation from long-term injuries.
Ekitike is unlikely to feature for Liverpool this year after rupturing his Achilles’ tendon in April, while Bradley remains sidelined with a serious knee injury he sustained during the Reds’ 0-0 draw with Arsenal in January.
Both players — alongside defender Giovanni Leoni, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament last September — have travelled to the United States for Liverpool’s preseason, but won’t be available to feature in upcoming games against Sunderland, Wrexham and Leeds United.
“Right now, we have different situations in terms of injuries,” Iraola told reporters on Tuesday. “Those three are big, big injuries. It’s taken them months to recover. And then apart from those three, we have Stefan [Bajcetic] and Wataru [Endo] that are close to getting to training with the group. They will even start on this tour — Stefan and Wataru — training not fully maybe, but partially with the group.
“With the others, we’ll have to wait more. I think the closest one to returning is Leoni. Conor and Hugo especially are way off. We are talking about months and still a lot of time out.”
Right-back proved a problematic position for Liverpool under Arne Slot last term, with several players forced to deputise for the injured Bradley.
Asked whether Bradley’s continued absence could affect the club’s transfer plans, Iraola added: “I think it depends on the Conor situation. At the end, if you have a fully fit, healthy Conor Bradley, we are very happy, ready to go, and we would not be asking ourselves these questions.
“I think it is a situation that is tricky, because we trust Conor in the long term. We know we want him to be our right-back, but right now he is still a little bit far from returning, so with the centre-back, with the right-back situation, in terms of defensive depth, we are very thin right now.
“So I think it is a solution that we are trying to find.”
Liverpool will train in Chicago this week before facing Sunderland in Nashville on July 25, and Wrexham in New York City on July 29. They will conclude their preseason tour by returning to Chicago, where they will face Leeds on Aug. 2.
“I think the preseason is always the foundation of what’s going to be a long season,” Iraola said. “But when you arrive to a new club, it’s even more important because you don’t have a lot of training sessions. You don’t have a lot of even friendlies. We are playing five friendlies before the season starts.
“So every training session, every preseason friendly for us is massive. It’s massive because sometimes we lack days of training properly, of training with all the group of players. So everything that we can get from every friendly we play, we have to use it properly because we want to arrive in a good spot on the first day of the season.
“And at the end, the best training is always the friendlies you play.”
Liverpool being the Premier League season on Sunday, Aug. 23, away to Newcastle United.
