Liverpool injury update: Conor Bradley closing in, Hugo Ekitike progressing, Giovanni Leoni suffers setback
Liverpool finally have some clarity on three injured players, and the headline is straightforward. Conor Bradley is close to rejoining parts of first-team training, Hugo Ekitike is moving as expected in his recovery, and Giovanni Leoni has hit an unwelcome bump in the road.
Bradley has been out since January, when he suffered a serious knee injury late in the 0-0 draw with Arsenal. There has been little detail on the precise damage, although it is understood he avoided ligament trouble. For Liverpool, that always mattered. A long lay-off is one thing, structural damage is another.
Photo: IMAGO
Conor Bradley nearing Liverpool training return
Andoni Iraola offered the clearest update yet on the right-back’s condition. “They are both doing very well,” Iraola said. “I think they are in a good place. Conor is not so far from training with the group – not like full training but doing some things with the group.
“Hugo is a little bit behind that but that was always the plan. He is still doing very well according to the plan.”
That tells you where things stand. Bradley is not back, but he is close enough to begin integration work. After an absence this long, that is the stage that matters.
Hugo Ekitike recovery remains on track
Ekitike’s situation is more severe and always was. He ruptured his Achilles tendon in April, an injury that demands patience and usually wipes out any temptation to rush. His work between Kirkby and the United States with a specialist suggests Liverpool are taking the obvious route, careful, methodical, no shortcuts.
Iraola was not interested in promises. “It’s difficult (to put a timescale on them both). When they have been injured for so long it’s difficult to say but I think Conor is not very far from starting doing things with us.”
Giovanni Leoni setback adds caution
Leoni’s case is separate and unfortunate. Signed from Parma last summer, he suffered an ACL injury on debut, about as cruel a start as it gets. Iraola has now confirmed a setback, though the expectation remains that he could return to training around the next international break.
For Liverpool, this is where the medical department earns its keep. Bradley is the nearest, Ekitike is on schedule, and Leoni still needs careful handling. That is the reality, plain and simple.
