Arne Slot handed first BIG problem of Liverpool tenure as extent of key man's injury blow revealed

Arne Slot confirmed that key Liverpool man Andy Robertson ended last season with an injury issue, taking it into the European Championships with Scotland.

This demonstrates Robertson’s commitment to the cause but it has now dented his start to the new season as he will not be available for any of the games on the USA tour.

There already seems to be some doubt as to when he will be back with Slot not knowing whether it will be towards the end of the tour or just after it has concluded.

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"He is not fully fit yet," the former Feyenoord coach told a press conference ahead of the Reds' friendly against Real Betis.

"But we are expecting him in the end of the tour, maybe just after the tour, to be fully fit again.

"He took a small injury into the Euros and afterwards he had to recover from that after playing those games. But we will expect him back after our tour – but he joined us over here. I wouldn't expect him to play in any of the games."

With that doubt already creeping in it looks like there is time for some thought about the left-back position as Slot did confirm that he would be surprised if Liverpool didn’t sign anyone.

Is Tsimikas good enough?

Kostas Tsimikas has been the back-up to Robertson for several years now and he has stepped up in some key moments, most notably the FA Cup final in 2022.

However he never really gave Jurgen Klopp a headache in selection over the last few seasons but was an adequate back-up to have.

Last season though we possibly saw that change as even when Robertson was injured Joe Gomez was preferred in some instances. It begs the question: is Tsimikas worthy of starting for the Reds?

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It will depend on how bad Robertson’s issue is but taking Slot’s quotes at face value it shouldn’t take too long for him to get back up and running.

The issue is though he has had quite a few injuries in recent times which can be down to purely how much he has been used at Liverpool.

So with Tsimikas being 28 years old and arguably not going to develop more in the role it does make sense for Liverpool to eye up a younger alternative who can progress while pushing Robertson.

The solution could already be at the club

Liverpool have plenty of young players who will be given a chance and one of them on the USA tour is Luke Chambers.

The 20-year-old has been viewed as a quality player in the making which was emphasised when Bayer Leverkusen were interested in him last year.

As with every young player, there may be reservations about whether he could make the step-up right now saving Liverpool some money.

His only senior experience are loans in Scotland and League One with Wigan Athletic, who have been linked again.

A loan in a higher-quality league could be the way forward for Chambers but there is always the chance he stands above the rest of the young players in pre-season.

Reds linked with left-sided defenders

Liverpool have been linked with several players in the back line with different types of players linked.

The recent full-back that can slot in as a centre-back trend has prompted the likes of Levi Colwill, Lloyd Kelly, Goncalo Inacio and Riccardo Calafiori all to supposedly be of interest at some point.

As well as those, more direct and attacking full-backs Rayan Ait-Nouri and Antonee Robinson have also apparently caught the eye.

Chambers did show that he was able to have that versatility in his last loan so that may be something that could play in his favour.

It will though come to how Slot wants his full-backs to behave and whether they will be asked to be more of a classic get-down-the-line type or if he wants them to come infield.

Fans will have more indication when pre-season starts, as will Slot, hence why any movement on transfers has been at a slow pace.

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