Such are Liverpool's injury problems at present that it'd be no surprise to learn Jurgen Klopp had applied for planning permission on an extension of the AXA Centre's treatment room.
Barely a few days into the new season and Klopp is already surveying a lengthy absentee list that now stands at 10 members of the wider squad. Naby Keita's illness means he should at least be cleared to return this week, while there is also hope that Kostas Tsimikas is primed for a comeback too.
Some of those on the shelf right now, though, are far from ideal, particularly given Saturday's underwhelming draw at Fulham to kick the campaign off. Ibrahima Konate, Klopp admits is a "major blow", while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's untimely Singapore setback means he hasn't had a pre-season schedule to work on his own fitness.
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Curtis Jones' "stress reaction" in his calf saw him appear in a protective boot at the Strasbourg friendly, while Caoimhin Kelleher has been unable to have a pre-season either due to his own issues. Diogo Jota's absence goes on, meaning he is another who will need time to get readjusted having missed the whole of pre-season, while Thiago adds to the hamstring headaches Klopp is having to deal with at present.
Longer-term, though, the problem for Thiago poses several questions. Having arrived from Bayern Munich in 2020 as one of the most gifted and decorated midfielders of his generation, it was a genuine coup for Liverpool to sign him at £25m. Even at 29, with a history of injury problems, the arrival of the one-time Barcelona man saw those inside the club toast to the capture of the player they believed was the finest midfielder in Europe at the time.
And throughout his spell on Merseyside, particularly last season, he has shown just what the fuss is all about with some sublime displays in the engine room. The latest problem, however - one that saw him limp off just five minutes into the second half at Craven Cottage - is nothing that was truly unforeseen.
Already across less than two years at Anfield, Thiago's problems have seen him miss a total of 44 Liverpool games. COVID-19, hip, calf, thigh, knee and Achilles issues have all troubled him prior to the hamstring injury at the weekend. A second scan is hoped will turn up more positive news but it will be a few weeks, minimum, on the absent list.
Thiago was left in tears when he was forced to miss February's League Cup final after an injury sustained in the warm-up before he took a painkilling injection to make sure he was passed fit for the Champions League showpiece on May 28 against Real Madrid.
At 31 and with a litany of injuries to call his own, an over-reliance on Thiago in Liverpool's midfield is a dangerous gamble. A player of majesty when fit and firing, without question, but all too often his body betrays him at the wrong time for Klopp. Last term, he featured in just 25 of 38 Premier League fixtures.
For a club who view age as one of the main tentpoles in their recruitment strategy, it was curious to note that the Reds started with the joint oldest starting XI in the Premier League this weekend at 28.7 years. Their lineup in the Community Shield victory at the end of July was their most experienced for nearly 70 years at 29 years and 315 days, according to statistics taken from FBref.com.
That Liverpool generally refuse to recruit players over the age of 25 points to the fact of having a settled squad who have matured together over the last four years or so. Jordan Henderson, for example, has been at the club since 2011, while players like Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson - three regulars - are all entering their fifth year at Anfield.
Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah have been at the club since 2017 too offering further weight to the evidence of it being a squad that has been a success partly because it has been allowed to develop as a collective. With the elder statesman of the group James Milner turning 37 in January and club captain Henderson set to celebrate his 33rd birthday before the start of next season, Liverpool have something of an age-related issue to look at, particularly in midfield.
In fairness to those within the club, it is not something they are unaware of. Anfield sources have spoken of the need to redress the balance of the squad's age, particularly with their home-grown quota of players. It's one of the reasons 19-year-old Fabio Carvalho was signed.
Recent additions have also been 23 or under too. Darwin Nunez turned 23 in June, which is the same as Jota when he moved from Wolves in 2020. Ibrahima Konate had just become a 22 -year-old when he was confirmed as a Liverpool player in May 2021, while Carvalho and Calvin Ramsay are two teens here for the long haul. Kostas Tsimikas is the only one over 23 on that list of arrivals since 2020, Thiago aside, having arrived from Olympiakos at 24.
One of the number of reasons Liverpool decided to pass on Porto's Otavio was his age of 27. Insiders believe players of a certain age-range are unlikely to improve further and only special players like Thiago are even considered once a footballer reaches his mid-to-late 20s. Aurelien Tchouameni had not long turned 22 when Liverpool's recruitment department started to make tentative overtures earlier this year prior to his move from Monaco to Real Madrid.
Jude Bellingham, a player who turned 19 in June, is viewed as a potential long-term solution to the midfield, although by now it is accepted knowledge that Borussia Dortmund have no intention of listening to options this summer having lost Erling Haaland to Manchester City.
New contracts to Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah in the past year or so are proof that Liverpool don't feel a player is past their peak once they hit 30, but they are two of the club's greatest of the Premier League era. Allowances can be made for such profile and quality.
For now, though, the Reds will continue to quietly assess the market, as they always do. Any incoming will surely be for the future as much as the present.
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