Despite the positive news that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was added to Liverpool’s Champions League squad on Tuesday, he reportedly still faces a lengthy wait to return to action.
As noted by BBC Sport, the 25-year-old was named in the squad for the knockout stage of the competition, which naturally led to suggestions that he could be available for their upcoming last-16 tie against Bayern Munich.
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The England international has been out of action since last season after suffering a serious knee injury in the semi-final encounter with Roma at Anfield, as he went on to miss the Champions League final last year as well as the World Cup last summer.
In turn, he’ll undoubtedly be itching to return to action sooner rather than later to make some sort of impact on this campaign for the Merseyside giants, but according to The Telegraph, Jurgen Klopp may not have him at his disposal and in contention for a place in the starting line-up until April.
In truth, it has to be argued that it’s undoubtedly the more sensible strategy to take time and be patient with Oxlade-Chamberlain, as he’s coming back from a serious setback.
With that in mind, ensuring that he has fully recovered, has gone through a rigorous rehabilitation and is entirely ready to return to the pitch, have to be the priorities before he can make his comeback in order to avoid seeing him suffer any further setbacks.
While adding him to the Champions League squad can be considered a positive as it will surely boost his morale knowing that he could play a part if Liverpool advance, it may be a little while yet until he is back pushing for a starting berth.
