Jurgen Klopp has offered a positive update on the fitness of Liverpool’s injured defensive contingent, with long-term absentees Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez having joined the squad for pre-season training.

Van Dijk missed the majority of last season after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury during a Merseyside Derby draw with Everton in October, the Netherlands international also ruling himself out of Euro 2020 as he continues his recovery.

Gomez was also ruled out for the campaign after sustaining a serious knee injury in England training just weeks later, though Klopp has revealed both players are progressing well ahead of the forthcoming Premier League season.

“Virg and Joe will not have double sessions now for the first few days with the team,” he told the Liverpool website. “They have a second session of the day but it’s with the rehab department, physiotherapy – these kinds of things.

“That’s for these two. (They) look really good. I don’t know exactly when we can make the next steps but it will happen in the next four weeks. For sure, we will get a big step forward.“

Klopp also provided updates on both Joel Matip and Trent Alexander-Arnold, the former having not featured since sustaining ankle ligament damage against Tottenham in February.

Alexander-Arnold was forced to withdraw from England’s Euro 2020 squad after picking up a quad injury during a pre-tournament friendly against Austria, though Klopp is positive on the fitness of both players as they step up their recovery ahead of Liverpool’s opening pre-season fixture against Mainz on July 23.

“Joel looks good, absolutely, he is the closest probably to normal training and then we will see when we get him started for playing.

“Trent was a serious enough injury but now not a major one, I would say.

“He is close but for the moment, probably the next five or six days he has a special programme – from time to time with the team, from time to time by himself. But then in five or six or seven days he should be in normal team training.”

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