Medical Insider issues ‘red flag’ claim after Luis Diaz injury twist at Liverpool
Liverpool will have to manage Luis Diaz carefully as he is set to return to action ahead of schedule.
That is the view of medical expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in injury and data analysis, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
Sources told Football Insider last week (27 November) that Liverpool are confident Diaz can return to full training soon and be part of their mid-season training camp in Dubai.
The 25-year-old is expected to be ready to face Man City in the League Cup later this month (22 December).
Diaz has been missing since suffering a knee injury in the 3-2 loss to Arsenal at the Emirates on 9 October.
“Structurally, the knee will be sound,” Dinnery told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“That recovery and rehabilitation process would have been activity based. He’ll have been through all the protocols and demonstrated his ability to tolerate certain exercises, movements, increased intensity and increased loads.
“The fact that he’s in first-team contention, in terms of what you’re able to do on the training pitch in a non-competitive environment suggests he’s come through all of that without any setbacks or reaction.
“The next phase in return to play is that return to performance and it’s more really about that gradual integration to first-team football with increased minutes because we do know that red flag for setbacks and reoccurrence will be around fatigue-related issues and the expectation to do too much too early. That’s a bigger risk and bigger concern for Diaz.
“In terms of the knee, that shouldn’t pose any issues whatsoever. Although, there are never any 100 per cent guarantees that players will not suffer a re-injury.
“He would have ticked boxes to get to this stage and that’s really good progress and shown he’s done really well in this rehabilitation phase.”
In other news, Liverpool are in talks to terminate a loan deal.