Liverpool news: Jurgen Klopp sets World Cup ‘clear rule’ to seven players in Qatar | Football | Sport

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has made it clear that he expects all seven of his players heading to the 2022 World Cup to be in regular contact with him throughout the tournament. Liverpool face Southampton tomorrow in their final Premier League game before the season breaks up for the World Cup.

Klopp has just seven players leaving his squad to travel to Qatar in Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Darwin Nunez. It means a large portion of his playing squad will join Liverpool in heading to Dubai for their mid-season training camp.

But Klopp still wants regular contact with all seven players heading to Qatar and admits part of the reason the club chose Dubai as their training base from next month is so that it is easier for those playing in the World Cup to join them once their campaign is over. “We have a clear rule how it is with international games,” Klopp said.

“The boys have to text me if there are any issues and especially after the game. At the World Cup it’s different because we can see all the games, see who’s playing, who’s not playing and you can read the news.

“When it’s a normal international game and Brazil plays it’s tricky to get any kind of information so we need the players to tell us ‘no fine, 90 minutes, but okay’. That’s the contact we will have. The players group, it’s clear when they are winning the WhatsApp group will go bonkers.

He added: “We are in the training camp in Dubai so that’s around the corner. So if somebody has to leave the tournament early, they can join us immediately. That’s one of the reasons we go there.”