Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez will be handed an extended summer break after being left out of Uruguay's squad for their upcoming internationals due to injury.
The 23-year-old forward missed the Reds' final three games of the Premier League season against Leicester City, Aston Villa and Southampton after sustaining a toe injury in the days after the 1-0 victory over Brentford in early May.
As a result, new Uruguay manager Marcelo Bielsa has decided not to name Nunez in his inaugural squad for the upcoming friendlies against Nicaragua and Cuba later this month.
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It is the second time this year that Nunez has been unable to join up with his compatriots because of injury. The forward missed his country's March internationals after suffering a heavy cut to the ankle during the Reds' 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid on March 15.
Bielsa replaced Diego Alonso as manager last month after the latter was sacked following Uruguay's surprise first-round exit at the 2022 World Cup finals. Nunez earned his 16th cap during the finals as he started all three of Uruguay's Group H fixtures against South Korea, Portugal and Ghana, with two of those outings coming alongside former Anfield hero Luis Suarez.
However, like Nunez, Suarez has been left out of Bielsa's squad for the international double-header with the former Leeds United, Marseille and Athletic Bilbao boss tasked with navigating Uruguay through a transitional phase in their history and therefore naming a youthful 34-man squad.
Suarez is not the country's only long-serving player to be omitted from the squad, however, as Edinson Cavani, Diego Godin and 133-cap goalkeeper Fernando Muslera were also overlooked by the Argentine.
In a boost for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp, Nunez will now be afforded an extended break until he is scheduled to reconvene at the AXA Training Centre on July 8 for the start of the Reds' pre-season preparations begin.
Klopp's squad will then fly out to Germany for an intense training camp where they are expected to play two friendlies against local opposition. From there, the Reds will fly to Singapore for the second consecutive summer where they will face off against Leicester City and Bayern Munich.
However, players involved with their nations during the month of June will be granted at least three weeks of holiday.
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