LFC CHRISTMAS GIFTS

UP THE REDS!

Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah are in ridiculous shape ahead of pre-season day one

Gone are the days when players would start at zero for pre-season, with Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah showing off their ridiculous physiques ahead of day one.

Liverpool will begin pre-season training on July 4 – five weeks after the Champions League final – but the squad have already been hard at work during their downtime.

Issued individual training plans by head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer – in consultation with the likes of Mona Nemmer and Andreas Schlumberger – each player has been following their own bespoke routine.

They have been able to do so with minimal equipment, allowing time away with their friends and families, with rest equally as important at this stage.

But there has barely been a let-off from any of Klopp’s first team, with club-record signing Nunez in particularly strong shape as he prepares to join his new team-mates.

In a post shared on Twitter on Friday, the Uruguay striker looked ahead to his first day at the AXA Training Centre, with “no day off”:

Hours later, Salah posted a conveniently timed photo of himself while on holiday in Egypt:

There have clearly been few actual days off for the Reds in the weeks between the end of the previous campaign and the imminent start of the new one.

Jordan Henderson, Nat Phillips and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have all been training at The Campus complex in Portugal, while youngsters Owen Beck, Conor Bradley, Leighton Clarkson and Rhys Williams are working together in Spain.

Harvey Elliott, meanwhile, posted an update from the gym via his Instagram story on Friday, as his time in the United States continues.

Curtis Jones is also in the US and has been working hard in Los Angeles, including joining a local six-a-side match, while Luis Diaz has been on the pitch, too, upon his return to Colombia.

Liverpool should have a strong squad back in Kirkby for day one, though it remains to be seen whether those on international duty deep into the summer will return later.