Liverpool FC news recap: Injury blow, Gerrard interview

Here's our Liverpool FC news roundup for Wednesday, 14th February 2024. The Reds suffered a double injury blow.

Liverpool received some bad news on Wednesday that could deeply affect their Carabao Cup chances. The injuries just keep coming at Anfield, even with players starting to return.

In better news, we know who the Reds' Player of the Month was for January, while there's talk of Xabi Alonso's grand plan. On top of it all, a suggestion that Kylian Mbappe contacted Liverpool last year.

Here's our Liverpool FC news recap.

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Liverpool suffer double injury blow

The Telegraph reports a huge blow for Liverpool this month. The Reds have the Carabao Cup final coming up against Chelsea but will now miss two first-XI players for it.

Both Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai have been carrying injuries but there had been hopes that they'd be okay. Neither were expected to face Brentford this weekend, though there was little suggestion that they'd also miss the final.

Alexander-Arnold has a knee issue, first picked up against Arsenal and then aggravated at the weekend. Szoboszlai has a hamstring problem that's been bothering him since the New Year's Day clash with Newcastle United.

Those injuries are now set to take them out of the cup final.

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Bradley wins POTM

Conor Bradley says Liverpool fans gave him the 'most special moment' of his life. The defender has won the Reds' Player of the Month.

Liverpool announced on Wednesday that Conor Bradley has won the club's Standard Chartered Player of the Month award for January. It comes in the month of his Premier League debut and after a series of performances that left people shocked.

Bradley had never played at the top level before but slotted into the side as Trent Alexander-Arnold was out. It was an incredible run - five assists and a goal in his first month.

His performance against Chelsea was extraordinary as Bradley assisted two and scored his first goal for the Reds in a Man of the Match display. It was one that confirmed his status as an effective Premier League player - no going back from here.

The Standard Chartered Player of the Month award is voted for by fans and Bradley was sure to thank them on receiving the award. He also mentioned how the fans gave him 'the most special moment' of his life last month.

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Gerrard could get interview

Former Liverpool midfielder and current Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso is the frontrunner to take over from Klopp this summer. However, the 42-year-old has remained coy on the job publicly, as he chases down a first Bundesliga title in Leverkusen's history.

The likes of Roberto De Zerbi (Brighton), Ruben Amorim (Sporting CP) and Julian Nageslmann (Germany) are among the other names most frequently linked, while 90min claims the Reds already have a seven-man strong shortlist, which also contains Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham), Roger Schmidt (Benfica) and Unai Emery (Aston Villa).

Additionally, 90min's report claims that while he is not on the seven-man list of options, club legend Gerrard could also be granted an interview, despite not being a serious candidate.

Once viewed as a near-cert to take over as Liverpool head coach one day, Gerrard's chances of landing the job have nosedived in recent years.

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Xabi Alonso's grand plan

Speaking on the BBC’s Football News Show, Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague claimed to have some inside information about Alonso and that those three clubs were on the list should his term at Leverkusen prove successful.

“When he went to Bayer Leverkusen, he told his agent: ‘Do you know what? I am thinking that if it doesn’t go well at Bayer Leverkusen, I’ll go back to Real Sociedad',” Balague said.

“'But if it goes well, from here, it’s Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich’.”

“Let me add Manchester City to the equation and that’s where Xabi Alonso could go next. When, is a different matter.”

Alonso is under contract at the BayArena until 2026.

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Mbappe contacted Liverpool

The Reds were interested in Kylian Mbappe before his 2017 move to PSG, while he was still at Monaco. Numerous comments to the press over the years and reports of the player's mother's love for Liverpool have led to speculation that Anfield could yet be a future destination for the France captain.

Now, the Independent reports the eyebrow-raising information that "Mbappe’s wider circle reached out to Liverpool last year", amid the forward's since-resolved falling out with PSG.

However, there was no offer from the Reds' FSG ownership who didn't want him badly enough to break their wage structure.

The report claims Liverpool's title rivals Arsenal — who Mbappe would also 'willingly join' — are in a similar position financially.

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