Liverpool Injury News: Latest Return Timeframes for Seven First-Team Stars

Wataru Endo and Stefan Bajcetic

The first two players are the closest to a return to the Liverpool matchday squad are Stefan Bajcetic and Wataru Endo. 

Stefan Bajcetic was missing the entire 2025/26 season through injury after having surgery on his hamstring and has subsequently missed a total of 447 days. However, he has returned to full training with the first team in the US, and he will be hoping to possibly feature in Liverpool's last three pre-season games. 

Wataru Endo picked up a foot injury in February of last season and missed the rest of the campaign through injury.

Endo was initially called up to the Japan World Cup squad, but he withdrew from it just before the start of the tournament and then proceeded to retire from international duty altogether. 

But following a summer of rehabilitation, Endo is closing in on a return to first-team training, and Andoni Iraola has come out and given updates on both Bajcetic and Endo.

"Stefan is training basically fully with the team. Wataru has started training more progressively but [is] very close to being ready. I hope Wata can play probably against Monaco. He should be able to have some minutes."

Conor Bradley, Hugo Ekitike and Giovanni Leoni

The trio that are out or have been out with long-term injuries have all been given rough timelines to return to the pitch in recent weeks. 

Giovanni Leoni is the closest of the three to a return, as he nears the end of his recovery from his ACL injury, sustained against Southampton in the League Cup back in September.

This will be a massively welcome return for Liverpool due to the ongoing shortage of personnel at centre back at the moment.

Conor Bradley will be the next one back, although an exact timeframe for his return has not been revealed. He underwent surgery after sustaining a knee injury against Arsenal in January and has been recovering from that ever since. 

And Hugo Ekitike is the one that is set to be out for the longest period of time out of the trio, as he is set for a return closer to the start of 2027. The French forward enjoyed a sensational start to his Liverpool career, scoring 17 goals and 6 assists in 45 games across all competitions for the Reds. 

But in the 2nd leg of Liverpool's Champions League quarter-final against PSG, Ekitike would rupture his Achilles. 

Andoni Iraola outlined this order of return in a press conference two weeks ago

"I think the closest one to returning is Leoni. Conor and Hugo especially are way off. We are talking about months and still a lot of time out."

Joe Gomez

The long-time Reds defender has been hampered by injury for years, meaning he has never managed to show how good he is consistently for Liverpool.

The latest injury blow for the Englishman was picked up in Liverpool's first pre-season friendly against Sunderland in Nashville. 

Andoni Iraola then came out and stated:

“Joe has a muscle injury. I think it was quite clear since he complained straight away, so it will depend how he evolves, but he will be some weeks off.”

Iraola was coy on an exact timeframe of when Gomez would be likely to return, but it has been since reported by James Pearce that the defender is set to miss around a month due to this muscle injury. 

This is a huge blow to Liverpool ahead of the new season, as Andoni Iraola was already short of defensive numbers. The loss of Joe Gomez only emphasises Liverpool's need to bring in defenders quickly.

Jeremy Jacquet

And finally, Liverpool's new centre-back signing, who was signed back in January but only joined the club this summer, has been recovering from an injury of his own.

The French defender picked up a shoulder injury while playing for Rennes in February and missed the rest of the season due to it. 

Jacquet has been training with the first team over in America and was set to feature in their final game in the US against Leeds United, but missed the game due to feeling some "discomfort" and Andoni Iraola not wanting to take a risk with him given the current lack of senior centre backs available. 

"With Jeremy we still don't know if it's worth it or not to put him in against Leeds. He did the first part of the pre-season, let's say, very well. Now he's feeling some discomfort, so we don't want to rush him."
"He comes from a lot of months without playing. And obviously I would like to try with him with Virgil [van Dijk] when he recovers, because with the injury of Joe we've been without senior centre-backs. But we have to be careful with Jeremy, yes."