Diogo Jota to Miss World Cup Due to Serious Calf Injury

A serious calf injury suffered against Manchester City will sideline Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota through at least the World Cup in a blow both to Liverpool’s short-term hopes and his nation’s dreams of football glory.

It’s a significant blow for the player, and it follows the recent injury of fellow Liverpool forward Luis Diaz, himself ruled out through the World Cup as the Reds’ ongoing injury crisis moves from midfield to defence and now to forward.

“Really not good news about Diogo,” manager Jürgen Klopp acknowledged at his pre-match press conference ahead of Wednesday’s game against West Ham. “He will miss the World Cup, it’s a pretty serious injury in the calf muscle.

“That’s it pretty much and now the recovery starts, or the process starts. The first diagnosis for him was pretty clear so all the rest will follow now in the next few days. It’s very sad news for the boy, for us of course as well, and for Portugal.”

Klopp added that surgery will not be required, which at least suggests it’s not a season-ending injury for Jota. Not being able to represent his country at the World Cup, though, will be a significant blow for him on a personal level.

On Liverpool’s other significant injuries, Klopp said that Ibrahima Konaté is about ten days from resuming training while Joël Matip is similarly “a little bit away” from being involved, while Naby Keïta returned to training this week.