Jurgen Klopp has suggested Liverpool will hand Joel Matip a new contract despite him suffering a likely season-ending ACL rupture.
The defender will require surgery on the serious knee injury that forced him off in the second half of the Reds’ dramatic win over 4-3 Fulham last weekend.
That meant not only the end of Matip’s campaign but potentially his Anfield career, given that his current deal expires this summer.
However, Klopp is keen for the 32-year-old to be signed up to a short-term deal at the very least, and expects the club to take a similar view.
He said: “Yeah, I’m pretty sure the club will show their class, as you should do it.
“I’m pretty sure the club told Joel already that, whatever happens, as long as he is injured everything is fine.
“Now we have to make the decision with Joel how it looks after that. That’s a normal thing to do but he deserves all the support from us and he will get it.”
Pushed again on whether that ‘support’ would mean a new deal, he added: “I would say so, but it’s not my decision in the end. I cannot sign the papers.”
Sources have told This Is Anfield that a concrete plan for Matip’s future has yet to be settled upon as he continues to await surgery.
However, the club appear to have committed to ensuring the defender won’t be out of contract while taking part in his rehabilitation, with a further decision on his long-term future set to be delayed.
With Matip out, Klopp still has Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joe Gomez and Jarell Quansah as senior centre-back options.
Questioned on the likelihood of the club looking to the January transfer market to replace his No. 32, the manager said: “We still have four centre-halves, which is absolutely alright.”
“It was never wonderland, where you would bring in a world-class centre-half until the other one is fit again or whatever,” he continued.
“As long as other clubs don’t put them under the Christmas tree for us and say ‘take it and use it as long as you need it’…
“I didn’t really think about it yet, because it’s only five days since we had that problem. But I don’t know, I don’t think so, to be honest.”
