Yet another one: Liverpool defender faces two months out after gutting injury blow
Liverpool have been dealt yet another injury blow, with the news that precocious centre-back Wellity Lucky faces two months on the sidelines.
Arne Slot’s first-team defensive options have already been curtailed by two serious injuries to Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley, neither of whom will play again for the rest of this season.
There was another addition to the casualty list over the weekend as Joe Gomez was forced off in the 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth after an accidental collision with Alisson Becker just as Evanilson scored the opening goal, with the Reds now shorn of three senior defenders.
Such is Liverpool’s luck at the moment that even prospective backup options are now being struck down.
Wellity Lucky suffers hamstring injury blow
As reported by The Athletic, Lucky has been ruled out for at least the next two months with a hamstring injury, thus minising Slot’s defensive depth even further.
The 20-year-old has only made one first-team appearance thus far, which came in the Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in October, although he has been an unused substitute for a handful of Premier League and Champions League games over the winter (Transfermarkt).
Latest defensive injury must surely prompt FSG to act?
Despite not being deemed a genuine starting option for high-stakes fixtures, the loss of the young Spaniard until April at the earliest comes as yet another unwelcome injury setback for Liverpool, and especially for the player himself.
Lucky has been a standout player in the under-19s’ UEFA Youth League campaign, giving a man-of-the-match display against PSV Eindhoven in November, and he’ll be a massive loss to Rob Page’s under-21 side over the next couple of months.
The sight of another defender being struck down by injury must surely set alarm bells ringing in the Anfield boardroom during the final week of the January transfer window, with Slot well and truly out of wriggle room when it comes to any further losses to his backline.
While tentative links with Micky van de Ven have done the rounds, the party line appears to be that Liverpool are unlikely to enter the market for a centre-back this month (The Athletic), a stance which’ll have Kopites living on their nerves for the remainder of the season.
Fingers crossed that FSG might yet feel compelled to act before Monday’s deadline. In the meantime, we wish Lucky a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action as swiftly as possible, following this cruel twist of fate for the youngster.
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