Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Out for Season with Knee Injury, Jurgen Klopp Announces

Liverpool may be without Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for the 2018/19 season, with manager Jurgen Klopp not counting on the attacking midfielder appearing, per Times Sport:

Oxlade-Chamberlain has been out since he injured his knee against AS Roma in last season's UEFA Champions League semi-final.

The former Arsenal ace had surgery, but he was informed he might miss this season not long after suffering the injury, a detail Oxlade-Chamberlain kept "under wraps, even from his team-mates, as he did not want to dampen the mood as the Reds went for Champions League glory," per Chris McKenna of the Daily Mirror.

Klopp is already working on the basis Oxlade-Chamberlain won't be fit:

Fellow Liverpool midfielder James Milner offered support:

While there's been no setback from his initial injury and resulting surgery, Oxlade-Chamberlain will still be bitterly disappointed to see his development stalled once again. The 24-year-old often struggled to stay off the treatment table while a member of the Gunners.

Knee ligament issues were also the root cause of his problems at Arsenal, costing him six months of the 2013/14 campaign. In 2015, Oxlade-Chamberlain said it had taken him two years to get over the injury and the resulting problems it caused, per Jack de Menezes of The Independent.

The irony is Oxlade-Chamberlain left Arsenal to join Liverpool last summer to reignite his stalling career. It looked like a smart move, even though he only started 14 games in the Premier League.

However, the England international did show promise in the UEFA Champions League, scoring twice, including a cracker to help beat Manchester City in the quarter-final. Klopp was giving Oxlade-Chamberlain more playing time in his preferred position of central midfield.

Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images

The player's future is likely there, but Liverpool have added depth to the position this summer after signing Fabinho and Naby Keita. They will join Milner, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana.

Even so, Oxlade-Chamberlain's eye for a pass may have helped replace the vision and flair Liverpool lost when Philippe Coutinho joined Barcelona back in January.

Klopp's squad is stocked well enough to cope without Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the player is left to rue how fitness issues have cost him the chance to play in two World Cups. They also continue to keep him in limbo as a player of considerable potential, but one yet to make the step up toward genuine stardom.