Liverpool and England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will not return to the football pitch any time soon, in fact he is expected to miss the majority of the 2018-2019 season as he recovers from a serious knee injury. The 24-year-old international picked up the injury during Liverpool's Champions League semi-final match against Roma in April and has not played since. The injury also forced him out of the England outfit for the 2018 World Cup, he has 32 caps for the national team and was expected to be in Gareth Southgate's squad in Russia.
"It feels like now is an appropriate time to tell people that for Ox, this season will be about focusing on recovery and rehab," Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said. "We have known this from pretty much the day after he got the injury." Liverpool paid 35 million pounds to Arsenal for Oxlade-Chamberlain last summer and the midfielder repaid them with 5 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions. The England international had surgery on his knee at the end of last season, the operation went well according to his manager, but recovery will take quite some time.
"There has been no change, no setback - it's exactly on the schedule we expected and planned for," Jurgen Klopp added. "The new information is that we're now giving more detail publicly. Typical of Ox, he didn't want the news to overshadow the end of the season and, to be quite honest, we thought we could wait and tell people at an appropriate time. His surgery - which he had on the day of our second leg in Roma - has been completely successful and his recovery has started superbly well. But the truth of the matter is that we are preparing this season knowing he will not be with us on the pitch for competitive matches for the majority of it. If we do see him back this season it will be a bonus."
Liverpool are 9/2 at Bet365 to win the Premier League title next season.
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