Marcelo Pitaluga, who has been playing for Macclesfield in-between training with Liverpool’s first team this season, suffered an injury in his latest match for the Silkmen on Tuesday.
The Brazilian goalkeeper has impressed while on loan with the non-league outfit, keeping 11 clean sheets in his first 23 games before Tuesday’s defeat to Runcorn Linnets.
The match was level at 1-1 when Pitaluga was forced off with an ankle injury sustained while clearing a back pass.
A stretcher was called on to the pitch, before the 19-year-old eventually hobbled off supported by two members of staff.
Macclesfield would go on to lose 2-1, and after the game, manager David McNabb said there were initial fears that Pitaluga had sustained ankle ligament damage. He was due to undergo a scan to determine the severity of the problem on Wednesday.
Liverpool goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga, on loan at Macclesfield, will undergo scans today to determine the severity of an ankle injury.
The Brazilian was forced off in last night’s defeat to Runcorn Linnets in the Northern Premier League.
— Stephen Killen (@_StephenKillen) November 23, 2022
Liverpool have high hopes for the former Fluminense youngster, who arrived in 2020 in a deal worth a reported £700,000 with a further £1.1 million in potential add-ons, as well as a 25 percent sell-on clause.
Still just 19, Pitaluga has spent the majority of his two years at the club training with the first team, while turning out for the Reds’ under-18s and under-21s teams.
Ahead of this season, it was decided that the next step in his development would be to get game time at men’s level, with Northern Premier League Division One West side Macclesfield snapping him up on a season-long loan.
He has impressed immensely, and while he still has some work to do in terms of building up his physicality, his talent is clear for all to see.
There have been some suggestions that Pitaluga could eventually take over as Alisson‘s deputy if Caoimhin Kelleher leaves the club in search of more regular football.
Pitaluga’s impressive record, with just 17 goals conceded in his first 23 games prior to Tuesday’s match, has helped Macclesfield to the top of the league table.
Let’s hope the injury is nothing serious, and Pitaluga is back on the pitch sooner rather than later.
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