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Klopp offers Henderson hint ahead of Liverpool's 2021-22 season opener against Norwich
The Reds are finalising their plans for the start of another Premier League campaign, with their captain coming back into contention
Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Jordan Henderson could figure in his plans for a Premier League season opener against Norwich, with the Liverpool captain being lined up for "a few minutes" in a friendly clash with Osasuna on Monday.
The Reds will also have a team in action against Athletic Club on Sunday, with the final touches being put to preparations ahead of what promises to be another intriguing domestic and continental campaign for England and Europe's biggest clubs.
Henderson will be hoping to figure prominently in Klopp's plans, but he was late back to pre-season after helping England to the Euro 2020 final and, having seen his 2020-21 campaign ended by injury, is being eased into the fold this summer.
What has been said?
Asked by the club's official website on his plans for Henderson, Klopp said: "Hendo trained in Liverpool.
"We have a meeting on Saturday, it's all fine and we will see if he plays a few minutes or not.
"I didn't think about it yet and probably more likely in the second game, but if anybody is worried they choose the wrong game, I couldn't say which is Team A and which is Team B, to be honest.
"We have only good players here and that's good. Both line-ups will go for everything, so all fine."
Who has been catching Klopp's eye?
Henderson has been a prominent figure for Liverpool over his 10 years on Merseyside, but it is a squad game for Liverpool and everybody has a role to play in that.
Some are not seeing as many minutes as they would like, but Klopp has been impressed during pre-season by the efforts of Kostas Tsimikas, Xherdan Shaqiri and Takumi Minamino as they seek to remind him of their worth.
The German added on the back of a friendly win over Bologna on Thursday: "Kostas was really, really good, I have to say. That's true. It was just 45 minutes, that's fine, Owen Beck 15 minutes and that's good as well.
"Taki has played a good pre-season, that's true – that's really, really true. Seeing the quality of Shaqiri and all those things, that's good.
"Having the centre-halves back, playing football, you can see Joey [Gomez] with new long balls from left to right to left, a nice little asset. It's good, we can switch the game quicker maybe.
"Even after a long time, not with all of the guys who came late, we have to get used to each other quickly and then we have to make sure we are ready for the season. We don't prepare for Norwich, we prepare for the whole season so we have to see – who is in which situation for next week."
