Arne Slot will finally have a full squad available for the first time on Tuesday as Alisson Becker has begun his pre-season training with Liverpool. Of the 14 players from the Reds who had played in either the Copa America or the European Championships earlier in the summer, Alisson was the only one still missing.
On Sunday, the AXA Training Centre was once again occupied by the English combination of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez, the Dutch tandem of Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo, the Uruguayan Darwin Nunez, and the Colombian Luis Diaz.
Additionally, the 28-man group that left for the US tour has returned to England, meaning that when Liverpool’s coaching staff and new head coach Slot meet again on Tuesday, they will have a full roster of players to work with. This group was later supplemented by Diogo Jota, Ibrahima Konate, Ryan Gravenberch, and Alexis Mac Allister.
Many of the younger players will rejoin the U18 and U21 Academy teams to begin training for their corresponding seasons. On August 17, the U18 Premier League North gets underway at Derby County, and the Reds kick off their Premier League 2 campaign at home against Manchester City.
Alisson advanced to the Copa America quarterfinals with Brazil. Earlier in the summer, he was strongly connected to Saudi Arabia; however, these rumors have since cooled off as the Saudi Pro League began searching elsewhere for goalkeeping depth.
With three years left on his deal, the 31-year-old has not indicated that he wants to leave, and Liverpool has no intention of parting with their first-choice goalkeeper.
Goalkeepers Vitezslav Jaros and Caoimhin Kelleher both performed well in Alisson’s absence as Liverpool triumphed 3-0 over fierce North West rivals Manchester United over the weekend, capping a successful US tour that included wins over Real Betis and Arsenal.
On Sunday, the Reds play a friendly against Sevilla at Anfield to round up their preseason warm-up schedule. Liverpool and Las Palmas will play a second friendly match at the stadium later that day behind closed doors.
After replacing Jurgen Klopp as manager, Slot will next oversee his first competitive game on August 17 against promoted Ipswich Town in the Premier League.
