'It's unbelievable': Klopp says he snubbed one Liverpool player's handshake yesterday

 

There was heartbreak for one Liverpool player a little earlier this week.

The club announced that Diogo Jota had suffered an injury in the 1-0 victory over Manchester City on Sunday.

And Liverpool confirmed that the Portugal international would miss his country’s World Cup campaign in Qatar.

With a goalscorer of Jota’s ilk, the Portuguese had a very decent shot at enjoying a decent tournament but, instead, the Reds attacker will spend the period undergoing rehabilitation.

But Jurgen Klopp is floored by the former Wolves winger’s ‘unbelievable’ toughness and said he snubbed Jota’s handshake offer to hug him instead yesterday at the club’s training ground.

He told Liverpool’s website; “He’s an incredibly tough cookie, to be honest, it’s unbelievable. When I saw him yesterday on crutches and he wanted to shake my hand, I had to give him a hug. I said, ‘It’s more for me than for you, to be honest’ because it’s a shame, the whole thing: how it happened, that it happened, when it happened, all these kind of things.”

Jota is the second player of Klopp’s to be ruled out of the World Cup, with Luis Diaz also set to miss the competition following an injury away to Arsenal earlier in October.

Leaving aside how much their countries will miss the duo, Liverpool will too.

Klopp’s side are finally getting some momentum in the Premier League, beating West Ham in midweek for their second successive victory this season.

And with Mohamed Salah blowing hot and cold, Darwin Nunez adapting to life in England and obviously Jota and Diaz sidelined, well the German manager might struggle over the coming weeks.