Liverpool have been hit with a vicious injury blow ahead of the fast-approaching new season, with the news that goalkeeper Loris Karius will be out for up to two months with a broken hand.
The German was thought to be edging ahead of Simon Mignolet in the race to take the gloves for the Reds' first game of the season at the Emirates in a fortnight's time, but Jurgen Klopp will be forced to go back to the Belgian stopper as Karius undergoes surgury to correct the damage, done when he inadvertently punched Dejan Lovren in Wednesday's friendly against Chelsea.
Karius shocker: New #LFC keeper faces long spell on the sidelines Story by @JamesPearceEchohttps://t.co/lthpbPxxfK pic.twitter.com/HkzbEpMsiH
Karius was out in the United States with the club on their pre-season tour, but the Liverpool Echo report that hewill now fly back to the club's base to get treatment on the injury while Mignolet takes his place.
The news will come as even more of a blow for the 23-year-old after he turned down the chance to go to this summer's Olympic Games with his country, putting himself out of contention for the German squad in order to make sure he was ready to go for the start of his club'sPremier League campaign.
He said at the time of the decision:"I spoke with the manager and we said that it doesn't make sense for me to go to the Olympics as I would miss the first two league games of the season and of course I want to play in them.We agreed together I wouldn't be going [to Rio de Janeiro].
Loris Karius set to be out for 8-10 weeks with a broken bone in his hand. Returns to the UK today. Op is likely#LFC pic.twitter.com/jQ7lz4hBo5
"First I spoke with Jurgen and then together we spoke with the German people who wanted me to go.The priority is the club. It's more important that I am available for the start of the season."
The trip goes from hard to harder for the club's medical staff, following an unusually physical friendly on Wednesday saw Marko Grujic hospitalised with memory loss after a head injury while Ragnar Klavan was lucky to escape unharmed from a rash challenge from Cesc Fabregas.
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Ejaria hammers a beauty past Karius #LFCtour pic.twitter.com/D2b9gxVsaJ