Xherdan Shaqiri has barely kicked a ball for Liverpool this season.
Jurgen Klopp has admitted that it’s ‘absolutely not cool’ to be missing Liverpool winger Xherdan Shaqiri again.
The Switzerland star will sit out this afternoon’s FA Cup tie away at Shrewsbury Town due to injury.
It’s been a stop-start season for Shaqiri so far and even when he has been fit, the Liverpool boss hasn’t used him all that often.
Asked if the former Bayern star is getting frustrated with repeated injury setbacks, Klopp said to the club’s official website: “Yes, it’s not cool, absolutely not cool. But maybe there are different reasons, for sure. Shaq is a very special player in different departments.
“It’s never ‘big’ [injury] so far, but it was always enough to get him out. I can imagine that’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for him, it’s not cool for us.”
It has to be frustrating for Shaqiri; not only because he’s barely played this season, managing only 174 minutes across all competitions, but has more competition now.
The likes of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane were the Liverpool winger’s main competition before, but now there’s also Takumi Minamino to contend with.
The Japan international joined the Reds earlier this month and he’s undeniably the go-to-choice for Klopp now if he needs a winger, not Shaqiri.
It’s a big shame because for some time last season it looked like Klopp pulled off a bargain in signing Shaqiri for only £13 million, but he has been relatively anonymous for the best part of a year and it seems like he has a big challenge on his hands to save his career at Anfield.
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