It’s been a reversal of fortunes on the injury front for Liverpool recently. Instead of more players being injured, there are more and more returning from injuries. We’ve already seen Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah come back into the team.
But there are also expected to be three new returnees after the international break. Ryan Gravenberch, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones should all be back in action for Liverpool’s game against Brighton. That is really positive news.
Even more positive is the fact that Jurgen Klopp recently revealed he also expects Stefan Bajcetic to be training with Liverpool’s first team later this month. The Spain U21 international has been out due to growing issues for almost a year now, barely featuring for Liverpool.
The good news is that he is not the only youngster with a long-term injury who has recently returned to action for Liverpool. Yesterday another made his return, lining up for the club’s U21 side in a 2-0 victory against Manchester City.
What Jurgen Klopp has said about Isaac Mabaya
Yesterday, Liverpool got a rare victory against Manchester City in the Premier League 2. Rhys Williams and Trent Kone-Doherty were on the scoresheet as the young Reds recorded an impressive victory. And at the full-time whistle, Liverpool had more than just the result to smile about.
During the final ten minutes of the game, Isaac Mabaya was also introduced onto the pitch. The 19-year-old young prospect has been missing from action with an injury since September. This was his first competitive appearance since lining up for the U21 side against Middlesbrough in a 4-1 repeat.
It’s great to see Mabaya back on the pitch. He is a really highly rated talent who can play in a number of positions. For Liverpool’s first team, he has mostly featured as a right-back. Almost two years ago he was heavily involved with the first team, training regularly with Jurgen Klopp’s side.
During the pre-season of summer 2022, Mabaya also featured heavily for the club’s first team. At the time, Jurgen Klopp spoke really highly of him and praised his performances, particularly the fact that Mabaya was so young and able to play so well.
What Pep Lijnders said about Isaac Mabaya
Meanwhile, Pep Lijnders said during the same summer that when Mabaya plays ‘the right side becomes a highway’ as per the club’s official website. At the time, it seemed like everything was set for Mabaya to make his way into the first team. In the same way, Bajcetic used that pre-season to be under consideration by Klopp.
However, what has ensued has been rather unfortunate. Mabaya picked up a serious injury at the start of the subsequent season and was ruled out for 10 months. He came back against at the start of this season and has missed six months due to injury.
Hopefully, now Mabaya will be able to kick on and overturn his fortunes. He is still only 19-years-old and definitely has the potential to be under consideration of the first team again. Though first he will take everything step by step.