Jurgen Klopp admitted that Virgil van Dijk’s return to first-team football from a long-term ACL injury looks positive but refused to provide a timeframe over the Holland international’s reintegration within the fold at Anfield.
A clumsy challenge from Everton No.1 Jordan Pickford had taken Van Dijk out of the Merseyside derby last October in the opening minutes of the Goodison Park showdown and later reports confirmed that the former Saints man was in line to miss the remainder of the top-flight campaign owing to a nasty ACL injury.
However, the Dutchman has often taken to social media over the past few months, with his activity indicating that the 29-year-old’s return to action for Jurgen Klopp’s side could come sooner than expected.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the Reds playing Burnley at home in the midweek Premier League fixture list, Klopp said that Van Dijk’s recovery process looked really promising and that the central defender was in a good mood over the course of his rehab plan.
“He looks really good and I spoke to him this morning and he is in a good mood,” he said during his Wednesday press conference,” said Klopp, as quoted by the Mirror.
“I had this injury myself but for the time we are in and how long he is out, he looks really, really promising.”
“I don’t know what is possible and I don’t think I am the right person to judge it, so I don’t know when he will be back.”
