Latest injury news may see 2018 Michael Edwards signing leave as he faces "brutal reality"

For Liverpool, another injury concern has presented itself as they enter the next stage of their pre-season tour.

This time it's Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who left the pitch 44 minutes into their 2-0 friendly win over Crystal Palace last week.

Reportedly a muscular injury, latest reports suggest that the midfielder will struggle to play regular football for the remainder of his career.

The former Arsenal midfielder played less than 800 minutes in the league last year and has been linked with a move away.

Reports on his injury issues - may be a reason for Liverpool to sell

According to Ben Dinnery of the Premier League Injuries website, Chamberlain will find it difficult to play on a regular basis for the Reds.

He said: “The brutal reality of the situation is maybe Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t going to be a player who can play week in, week out.

“It’s possible that his body can’t cope with that intensity. I was surprised to learn that since he left Southampton, he hasn’t started more than 17 games in a season. The most number of minutes he has played was 1,562 at Arsenal.

“There have been a lot of quite serious injuries that have disrupted key periods of his career."

With a move to West Ham potentially in the offing, the club must already know of these issues but it's likely the club would use Chamberlain as a rotation player behind Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek but could replace the recently-retired Mark Noble for example.

Playing with a 4-2-3-1 system for the majority of David Moyes' reign, Chamberlain doesn't naturally fit into that double pivot and may be used more off the bench or as part of a three-man midfield which does occasionally happen at West Ham.

Dinnery continued: “This setback doesn’t appear to be anything major on the face of it but Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t going to be one that Klopp will want to start every game. He will be on the fringes of the first team.

“When he has high intensity and a high number of minutes, he tends to break down. That is something that Klopp himself has highlighted. Because of that, he’ll be used sparingly.”