A Few Surprises as Liverpool Name 30-Man Squad for Pre-Season Tour

With the plane set to leave this weekend for the Liverpool’s pre-season tour of Australia, Malaysia and Finland, the club have released a list of 30-players that will be taking part in the trip — and there’s not only a noticeable exception or two on it, there’s some surprising inclusions as well.

Obviously, when you have a peek at the full list, you’re going to look and see if want-away winger Raheem Sterling is on there. The 20-year old, who is expected to complete a big-money move to Manchester City in the coming days, was rumoured to have asked to sit out the trip before blagging off training two days in a row, but his name has been included nonetheless. Along with Sterling, the inclusion of Joao Carlos Teixeira comes as a bit of a surprise with the youngster only just returning to training after breaking his leg while on loan with Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion last season.

While the likes of Emre Can, Tiago Ilori, Philippe Coutinho and new signing Roberto Firmino have been given an extend vacation following their participation in the u-21 European Championships and the Copa America respectively, there are a few glaring omissions from the final list. Mario Balotelli, who is expected to leave Anfield this summer, has been left out of the squad on what’s believed to be compassionate grounds after the death of his father, but the exclusions of both Fabio Borini and Jose Enrique are believed to be due to the players impending departures from the club. Youngsters Jerome Sinclair and Cameron Brannagan, whose names are also absent, are expected to be sent out on loan in the very near future as the club looks to further their progress towards earning first team football.

The list in full includes goalkeepers Simon Mignolet, Adam Bogdan and Ryan Fulton, as well as defenders Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, Dejan Lovren, Alberto Moreno, Kolo Toure, Andre Wisdom, Daniel Cleary, Martin Skrtel, Mamadou Sakho, and Joe Maguire. As for midfielders, Joe Allen, Jordan Henderson, Lucas Leiva, James Milner, Pedro Chirivella, Jordan Rossiter, Joao Carlos Teixeira, Jordon Ibe, Ryan Kent, Sheyi Ojo, Danny Wilson and Adam Lallana, along with forwards Lazar Markovic, Raheem Sterling, Danny Ings, Rickie Lambert and the long awaited Divock Origi.

Be sure to pop by for coverage of the Reds pre-season tour — we’ll be doing our best to keep up.