Virgil van Dijk will have to deal with a new rehabilitation trainer at Liverpool. The leader of the Premier League has announced via the official website that Andreas Schlumberger will be taken over from Schalke 04 as of January. Schlumberger will deal with the players who have been (long-term) injured at Liverpool, including Van Dijk. The international of the Dutch national team is recovering from a serious knee injury.

Schlumberger is known to manager Jürgen Klopp, with whom he worked between 2011 and 2015 at Borussia Dortmund. The 54-year-old doctor worked at Schalke for only one year. In the past, Schlumberger also served as a rehabilitation coach with Bayern Munich, Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FC Nürnberg and the German Football Association. At Liverpool, Schlumberger has been named head of recovery and performance. This is a specialist role newly created by Liverpool, working closely with current medical staff and rehabilitation coaches.

Van Dijk is not the only player in the infirmary at Liverpool. Joe Gomez is also out of circulation for longer. Both defenders are not expected to return from their knee injury until next summer. Furthermore, the list of injured people is supplemented by Diogo Jota, Thiago Alcántara, Naby Keïta and Joël Matip. It is not known exactly when Klopp will have the foursome again. Achieving despite the many absentees the Reds excellent in the Premier League and the year ends on Wednesday evening as winter champions, when Liverpool visits Newcastle United.