Diogo Jota says his recovery from an unfortunate knee injury is “going well”, but no date is being set for a return.
The Portugal international made an immediate impact at Liverpool on the back of a big-money summer switch from Wolves.
Jurgen Klopp invested £45 million ($61m) in the 24-year-old, and has already seen a nine-goal return after 17 appearances.
Calls were mounting for Jota to be handed a prominent role in the Reds’ plans, with Roberto Firmino seeing his position come under threat amid a struggle for end product. The in-form frontman has, however, been added to the lengthy injury list on Merseyside.
Jota suffered an untimely setback after figuring in a 1-1 draw with his former employers at Wolves, with Klopp conceding that he may not be seen for some time.
The Reds boss said: “Yeah, it’s worse than we first thought and better than we then thought. All the potential surgeons had a look on it, no surgery needed, but he will be out for a while.
“We don’t know exactly but one-and-a-half, two months. We don’t know exactly. It’s pretty similar with Kostas Tsimikas, by the way. Unbelievable.
“It was first after the game. We saw the situation when he got it; him himself, nobody would have thought something happened there.
“We got him off the pitch and he said ‘I feel a little bit’ and next day, scans and then a surgeon has to look at it. That’s how we do it, different information. In the end, it’s strange but we were happy that we heard the final diagnosis.”
It remains to be seen when Jota will be welcomed back into fold, with the rest of 2020 being written off, but he claims to be making positive progress in his rehabilitation.
He told Liverpool’s official website: “Now I am supporting from the outside it is not easy – it’s even harder when you need to suffer as a fan and you can do literally nothing to help the team on the field.
“I’m doing my best to be back as soon as possible. Things are going well but knee injuries are always complicated so we cannot rush things, but I am doing well and I will be back on the field as soon as possible, like I say.”
Liverpool, without Jota and several other senior stars, will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Crystal Palace.
