Jurgen Klopp: 'Danny Ings will remain a Liverpool player'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 04 November 2016

Jurgen Klopp reveals that Danny Ings was "close" to earning a place in the team prior to picking up his latest injury, and he will remain at Liverpool beyond next summer.

Jurgen Klopp has assured crocked striker Danny Ings that he will '100% remain a Liverpool player' as he begins his latest comeback from a long-term injury layoff.

The 24-year-old recently returned to the field after spending the vast majority of his maiden campaign at Anfield on the sidelines with a cruciate ligament injury.

Ings was given the devastating news earlier this week that he will spend another eight months or so on the treatment table as a result of a similar problem sustained in last week's EFL Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur - just his second appearance since returning to action.

Klopp will continue to stand by the former Burnley striker on his latest road to recovery, though, and is hopeful that he will return ahead of next season in a positive state of mind.

"The only problem Danny Ings has had was he had a really bad injury and he needed time to come back in shape," he told reporters. "The last two weeks everybody could see 'okay, now he is back' and then this happened. That's not nice, but it's part of football. And from yesterday on, it's already a positive story because the surgery was positive, and rehab started already.

"The most important thing to say is that in this moment the club has to show how strong we are. We will wait for him, we will give him all the time he needs, and he will be a Liverpool player 100%. And that's the only thing we're working on 100% from this moment on. The team reacted as everybody would react when something bad happens to a friend but we want to show we're involved in this of course.

"He was very, very close in the last few weeks to the team, He already helped us, in each session he helped us on his way back. Everything will be all right in the end but now it's time to work on the comeback."

Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson was among those to offer his support to Ings in the wake of his latest injury blow.