Five Liverpool players who probably won't play again this season - including the 'Polish Messi'

The clips of Thiago Alcantara’s mastery and class were in abundance last week.

As the midfielder celebrated his 33rd birthday, social media was awash of highlight reels of his best moments in a Liverpool shirt. His stunning goal against Porto and barnstorming performance in a 3-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley mesmerised. It was a stark reminder of his absence this season.

How Jurgen Klopp must wish he could call on Thiago to give Liverpool a much-needed after a chastening week. The Reds’ Premier League title hopes have suffered a hammer blow after a 1-0 loss against Crystal Palace while their Europa League hopes hang by a threading following a 3-0 defeat by Atalanta in the quarter-final first leg. Fatigue appears to be setting in, with Liverpool’s lengthy injury problems quite well starting to catch up. After the Palace reverse, Klopp admitted that Wataru Endo and Alexis Mac Allister could be feeling the impact.

After having hip surgery a year ago, Thiago has managed just a single appearance for Liverpool. That was a five-minute substitute cameo in a 3-1 loss against title rivals Arsenal in February and aggravated his long-standing problem.

Klopp subsequently confessed he was unsure if the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich man would feature again this term. The Reds boss said: “There is no timescale. I don’t know [if he will play again this season], to be honest. What he has to do now from a medical point of view, I don’t know if that will then mean that he can play again.

“It’s not a short-term thing, that’s why I’m not really in the subject. It’s not that he might be in training in two weeks or something like this. Cannot say more about it, to be honest. The region is the same.”

Thiago is out of contract in the summer and it’s very unlikely he’ll be handed a new deal. He’ll depart Anfield having scored three goals in 98 appearances, winning the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2022.

Meanwhile, Klopp has admitted that it’s highly doubtful that Joel Matip will not return before the end of the season. The popular centre-back ruptured his ACL in December and had surgery. Matip is back outside running but will need more time to build up his fitness. The former Schalke man is also out of contract in June, having helped the club win seven major trophies since his arrival in 2016 - including the Champions League and Premier League. Klopp did previously admit he expected the club to ‘show their class’ and offer Matip fresh terms.

Adrian is another who, as things stand, is ready to depart. The goalkeeper has been at Anfield since 2019 but has been demoted to third-choice since the emergence of Caoimhin Kelleher. Adrian served as No.2 while Alisson Becker was on the sidelines for two months. But with Alisson returning to action against Crystal Palace, Adrian was not in the Reds’ match-day squad. It remains to be seen whether the 37-year-old will be offered a new deal.

One player who very much has a future at Anfield is Ben Doak. The 18-year-old winger is one of the most exciting youngsters coming through the ranks, having made 10 appearances to date. But Doak was forced to have knee surgery in December and is on the comeback trail. The Scotland international posted a photo of himself running back on the grass last week but with the end of the campaign so close, Liverpool may not rush him back.

Another player who is out of contract at the end of the campaign is Mateusz Musialowski. The winger has been a player who’s impressed at academy level since joining from SMS Lodz in August 2020 - having been dubbed the ‘Polish Messi’ in his homeland. Musialowski finally made his Liverpool debut in a 6-1 Europa League last-16 second-leg win over Sparta Prague and Klopp declared after the game that the youngster now looked ‘ready’. However, he’s not featured for the first team or the under-21s since.