James Pearce shares news of huge double injury boost for Liverpool ahead of next season

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James Pearce has shared news of a significant double injury boost for Liverpool just days after the end of the 2025/26 season.Arne Slot’s second campaign in charge at Anfield was severely undermined by numerous lengthy absences, particularly in defence, with Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley suffering long-term injuries and Jeremie Frimpong enduring several spells out of action.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYMidfielders Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones were often redeployed at right-back to plug the gaps, and it came as a major relief that first-choice centre-back duo Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate both managed to stay fit throughout the entire season.Thankfully, as shared by Pearce for The Athletic, Liverpool are set to be given two significant injury boosts over the summer.Liverpool handed double defensive injury boostJeremy Jacquet, who was signed in the winter and will arrive on Merseyside in the coming weeks, is due to be fit for the start of pre-season training, having been out of action since suffering a serious shoulder injury in Rennes’ Ligue 1 clash against Lens in February.The Frenchman’s rehabilitation programme is progressing according to plan, and he’s likely to be available when Slot’s squad reconvenes at the AXA Training Centre in July.Liverpool could also have Leoni back from injury for the start of pre-season, with the Italian having not played since tearing the ACL in his left knee against Southampton eight months ago.

The 19-year-old is now into the final stages of his rehab.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustJacquet and Leoni could be raring to go by the start of next seasonIf the two young defenders are both fit in time for the beginning of pre-season preparations, it’d come as an enormous boost for the Reds, who could have quite a sparsity of centre-back options when they reconvene in Kirkby in a few weeks’ time.Van Dijk and Konate could plausibly both go deep into the World Cup, which’d make them unlikely to be back on Merseyside before the end of July, and we still don’t know if the France international will be an LFC player by then as his contract situation remains unresolved.There’s also self-declared uncertainty about the future of Joe Gomez, who’s entering the final year of his deal and could viably depart over the summer if a decent offer is made to Liverpool.With Jacquet being new to the club and Leoni effectively starting his Reds career all over again, it’d benefit both players massively if they’re fit for all or even most of the pre-season programme, getting some all-important time on the grass and matchday action in friendlies before the resumption of competitive football in August.The later-than-usual start to the 2026/27 Premier League (weekend of 22/23 August) owing to the expanded World Cup will also give the two young centre-backs an increased timespan in which to build up their fitness before the domestic campaign begins.If Konate signs a new deal in the next month, on top of the double injury boost for his younger positional colleagues, Liverpool could actually go into next season with formidable depth in a position where options were worryingly threadbare for much of 2025/26.