Four more Liverpool players whose careers were ruined by injury

Following on from our piece on four ex-Reds whose Anfield careers were ruined by injury, this article will feature four more players who suffered the same fate.

Part one of this series discussed Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Alberto Aquilani and Daniel Sturridge.

This part will focus on four more players who never fulfilled their full potential due to injury.

It includes two players that are still currently contracted to the club.

In fact, trimming this down to four names was quite challenging, proving how unlucky Liverpool have been with injuries in modern times.

Jon Flanagan

We start with Jon Flanagan, whose injury struggles have ruined not just his Liverpool career, but seemingly his football career in general.

The 27-year-old is currently without a club after leaving Rangers at the end of his contract in July.

This comes only six years after he was Liverpool's first-choice left-back at only 21-years-old as his boyhood club came second in the Premier League.

His form in the 2013/14 season saw him labelled as the 'Scouse Cafu' and he was set to become a key part of the Liverpool defence for the foreseeable future.

However, things did not work out this way as he picked up a major injury before the next season got underway. He was out for over a year and a half.

The injuries, combined with some off-the-pitch issues, ensured that Flanagan never regained his place as a Liverpool regular.

Loan moves at Burnley and Bolton were unsuccessful. His ex-teammate Steven Gerrard still gave him a chance at Rangers, where he played 39 times in two years before his departure.

While Flanagan, even at his peak 13/14 form, would not be good enough to start in the current Liverpool team, he could have been a very useful squad player.

It is a pity that the homegrown fan-favourite never got the chance to prove it.

Adam Lallana

Adam Lallana will leave Liverpool this year as a Premier League and Champions League winner. He has played for the club for over five years, making 178 appearances.

Yet he could feel aggrieved that he has not done more.

A £28.9 million signing from Southampton, Lallana was expected to become a key man for the Reds in 2014.

He struggled at the beginning but began to show his clear ability when Brendan Rodgers switched to a 3-4-2-1 midway through the season, with Lallana as one of the pair of no. 10's behind the striker.

However, it was when Jurgen Klopp took over in 2015/16 that Lallana really showed what he could do.

Playing a deeper midfield role, Lallana looked like the perfect Klopp midfielder - hardworking, but with the touch of class that so few possess.

2016 proved to be his best year and he even earned England's Player of the Year award.

While he had always suffered from some smaller injuries throughout his career, it was around this period that he started to miss more and more games.

2017/18 should have been the season that he became one of the first names on the teamsheet. Unfortunately, it was a year riddled with injury, much like the next two campaigns.

While he has still had his moments, Adam Lallana should really have been remembered as one of England's finest players of the 2010s.

It is a pity that numerous injuries prevented from doing so.

Danny Ings

Of the four players on this list, this may be the toughest to take.

Had Danny Ings not ruptured his ACL in October 2015, then who knows where he would be now.

Right now, Ings is in the form of his life.

At the time of writing, he is third in the Premier League scoring charts, with 18. This is more than any Liverpool player, despite his team Southampton sitting 46 points behind his former club.

Another who would be perfect for Jurgen Klopp, Ings only played 25 times for the club he was contracted to for four years.

He was only just coming into form when he picked up his horrific injury. This occurred only a matter of days after the German took over at the club.

He worked his way back before injury struck again a year later, meaning he was unavailable for a total of 85 games for Liverpool.

While Klopp made no secret of his admiration for the Englishman, he let him join Southampton as he did not want to deny him regular first-team football.

He most likely regrets this decision now as the 27-year-old has proved that he is one of the league's finest strikers when fit.

On current form, he would most certainly be pushing the current front three hard for a starting place if he was still a Liverpool player.

Had he not suffered two atrocious injuries, perhaps Danny Ings would be a Liverpool regular in current times.

Xherdan Shaqiri

The final player in this list is another that is still at the club.

However, Xherdan Shaqiri looks set to leave Anfield when the transfer window opens.

He has been linked with a move to Newcastle by the Daily Mail.

His time at Anfield has been quite peculiar in truth.

While he was never going to usurp Mo Salah on the right-wing, he was seen as a good signing as much-needed cover for the Egyptian.

He actually began to make regular appearances in the side mid-2018/19.

Jurgen Klopp tweaked his formation to a 4-2-3-1, moving Mo Salah into the number 9 position.

Shaqiri then found a home on the right-wing and delivered some encouraging performances.

He came off the bench to score a brace and beat Manchester United in December 2018. This result ended Jose Mourinho's tenure as United boss. This is enough to ensure that he will always be remembered by Reds fans.

His second season at Anfield has seen him crippled by injury, and seemingly unfancied when fit.

He has only played six league games thus far this season.

Rather than suffering long-term spells, the Swiss seems to pick up constant small knocks.

This has meant a stop-start, and apparently short-lived, spell in Merseyside.

Yes, there were low expectations when he signed. But if not for injury, Xherdan Shaqiri could have played an even bigger part in Jurgen Klopp's revolution.