Jurgen Klopp admits he was relieved to sign Brazilian midfielder Arthur Melo on loan from Juventus to help ease Liverpool’s injury crisis.
Klopp is waiting to discover the result of a scan on Jordan Henderson’s hamstring injury as Liverpool’s midfield continues to be battered by injuries ahead of Saturday’s Merseyside derby at Everton.
England international Henderson limped out of Wednesday’s victory over Newcastle and will definitely miss the Everton clash.
Naby Keita, Thiago Alcantara, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have also been hit by Liverpool’s midfield injury curse this season.
Arthur is still waiting for international clearance so will not feature against Everton.
But Klopp is pleased with the 26-year-old’s arrival for the rest of the season and he should be involved in Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Napoli.
“I was really happy about his transfer. My information is that it will not happen until tomorrow, the international clearance. We all hope it will be fine for Napoli,” Klopp told reporters on Friday.
“He is a really good footballer. He’s had a very exciting career already and still young, coming into the best age as a footballer.
“He gives rhythm, a really good passer, has speed with the ball, safe on the ball. Really good in tight areas and all these type of things.
“I like it a lot. Why can you loan a player like this, because it did not work out 100 per cent at Juventus.
“Potential for sure is still there. We play differently to Juve and we all thought it could work well, that’s why I am pretty pleased.”
Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez will return to the Liverpool squad after completing the three-match suspension for his red card in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
“Now he learned a lesson. He is in really good shape and we came through it in the last two games winning so we don’t see that as a bad thing,” Klopp said.
“We try to give him some extra input physically as well as tactically. He looks really settled, more than before.”
