Liverpool's Squad Relief: Injured Players Set for Return

Liverpool’s thin squad has been handed a sliver of relief – and it’s arriving not from the transfer market, but from the treatment room.

With the window closed and glaring gaps still visible on the right flank, in midfield and at right-back, Liverpool have been forced into a holding pattern. No right-sided winger. No new midfielder. No extra cover at full-back. A late move to prise Malo Gusto from Chelsea on loan went nowhere, with the London club unwilling to sanction a cheap deal for a player who could have plugged more than one hole.

So the squad is set. On paper, at least. In reality, it’s a group stretched to its limits and waiting for reinforcements from within.

According to The Times, Liverpool expect Hugo Ekitike, Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley to play a “chunk” of the season. For a club counting bodies as much as points right now, that word carries weight.

All three have been missing for a long time. Ekitike, the most recent casualty of the trio, has been out since April. Bradley has not featured since the turn of the year. Leoni’s absence stretches back to last September – close to a full year on the sidelines.

These are not minor setbacks. The injuries have been serious enough that timelines have stayed deliberately vague and expectations cautious. No one at Liverpool truly knows what version of each player will step back onto the pitch, or how long it will take them to resemble their old selves. The first games back may simply be another phase of rehabilitation, played out in front of a crowd.

That is what makes the suggestion they could each contribute a meaningful slice of the campaign so significant. A “chunk” is not a cameo. It hints at weeks, possibly months, where Jürgen Klopp – or his successor – can actually plan with them, not just hope for them.

Leoni appears closest to a return and should soon be back in contention. Liverpool will not rush him. After nearly a year out, caution will trump desperation, even in a squad crying out for fresh legs.

Ekitike is expected to follow later, likely closer to Christmas. The expectation, though, is that he still plays a part in 2026, a reminder that this season remains very much alive for him despite the long lay-off.

Bradley is the mystery. Updates on the defender have been scarce, and clarity on the true extent of his problem has been hard to find. Liverpool’s late push for a right-back hardly screamed confidence in his short-term availability.

Yet The Times’ line that Bradley, too, could feature for a chunk of the season changes the mood. It hints at a pathway back for a player whose absence has quietly shaped Liverpool’s planning for months.

The transfer window has closed with questions still hanging over the squad. The answers, it seems, will have to come from three players who haven’t kicked a ball in anger for far too long.