Andoni Iraola's update on when Reds' World Cup players will return

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Andoni Iraola today offered an update on when he expects to be able to start working with the players who’ve yet to begin pre-season training due to their World Cup commitments.

The head coach confirmed Ryan Gravenberch, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz are set to link up with the Liverpool squad that arrived in Chicago on Monday to begin a two-week spell in the USA.

“The three players that are going to join us are going to be [in the] second week fully with us,” Iraola told a press conference on Tuesday.

“The ones that were [eliminated] from the World Cup, they all - because of different reasons - have individual days for their arrivals, but I think the sooner we can start working with them and they can understand what we want from them the better.

“Individually I talked with the three of them, they know the main things, but I am looking forward to having them here with the group and to go slowly, slowly with recovering bodies [to the squad].”

Alisson Becker, Cody Gakpo and Virgil van Dijk are on a similar timetable to Gravenberch, Isak and Wirtz in terms of beginning work with the Reds ahead of 2026-27, but that will start at the AXA Training Centre while their teammates are in North America.

Iraola explained: “They will, in terms of dates of training, be very similar but they will start training at the AXA in Liverpool.

“Because of different reasons, especially Virgil because he has been the player with most minutes in Europe I would say, and Cody for other reasons, they are going to start training basically in the same week as the others but instead of making them come here with the team, we considered that it was sensible with them to start the first week training with a small group or even with younger players that are at the AXA and join us when we [return].”