If there is any way at all to succinctly encapsulate the problems that have engulfed Liverpool this season, it can be found in the news around Stefan Bajcetic this week.
First it was revealed on Tuesday that the teenage midfielder would be absent for the Reds' trip to Real Madrid in the Champions League after he suffered an adductor muscle injury at Bournemouth last week.
Last season, fans and journalists alike would barely have blinked had an Academy product of such raw inexperience not made the trip for an important away-day in the European Cup. Such inclusions for players of Bajcetic's standing are usually given as rewards for their progress at youth level; a chance to rub shoulders with their more exalted and decorated colleagues; an opportunity to soak up what it is like to operate at the very highest level.
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But the news that Bajcetic would miss the second leg against los Blancos was instead viewed, generally, as a hammer blow to hopes of a historic turnaround victory at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.
And the further update that the 18-year-old is now likely to sit it out for the rest of the Premier League campaign has only further highlighted his sudden and shock importance to the Klopp cause since his real introduction into the first-team set-up at the start of this year.
"Unfortunately I’ve picked up an injury that will keep me out until the end of the season,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday. "It’s very sad to say goodbye to this amazing season for me but I understand this is part of football and will only make me stronger physically and mentally.
"I would also like to say thank you to you reds for all the support through the season and I assure you I will do my best to be back stronger than ever."
Losing a player who has played just 19 senior games as a professional footballer should barely register for a club like Liverpool. Instead, news that the Spanish youth international is now set to be absent for a vital run-in is seen as a major setback in the pursuit of the top four.
That, for all of Bajcetic's very obvious talent, underlines where Liverpool's problems stem from this term more than it proves just how good the former Celta Vigo youngster is presently. That's not to discredit the teen, of course, he has been a rare bright spot this campaign and has undoubtedly made himself a first-team member for next season, even if descriptors of 'like a new player' will induce audible groans from a fanbase expecting serious and decisive action from the recruitment team this summer transfer window.
But the deepening woes of the midfield at Liverpool extend just beyond Bajcetic's own plight. Thirty-seven-year-old James Milner was as dependable as ever at Real Madrid on Wednesday night, but the fact the veteran, whose place in the squad is now at the 'utility man' stage, started as captain for Liverpool at the Bernabeu is indicative of the wider troubles afflicting a team caught between the beginning and end of two different eras this season.
Milner did not endure a poor game in the centre of the park alongside Fabinho and he was one of few who carried the bit between his teeth on the night as the Reds meekly bowed out of the European Cup, but his inclusion for such a vital fixture only further shines the light on the failure of other, younger operators within the squad to seize the chance afforded to them by a midfield mess created by injuries, loss of form and the inability to recruit.
The same sentiments can be applied to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's appearance for the final 15 minutes or so as Liverpool chased the unlikely three-goal swing they needed to just force extra time. By that point, it felt like a desperate roll of the dice from a manager who knew the jig was up. Again, this is not to particularly denigrate Oxlade-Chamberlain or his specific contribution on the night but his arrival was not the signal that the cavalry was storming over the hill to set up a rip-roaring, grandstand finale.
Exploring the reasons behind the paucity of Liverpool's midfield is not exactly breaking new ground where the coverage of this season is concerned, but the ongoing difficulties experienced in that area of the pitch, for several reasons, only emphasises how important it remains to undertake a successful surgery this summer transfer window.
It goes beyond the ongoing and tedious daily updates on the future of Jude Bellingham, however. The England international could be Anfield's midfield general for the next decade if the Reds manage to snare him from Borussia Dortmund this summer but he cannot be viewed as the magic fix-all either.
It's maybe fair to argue that Klopp, sporting director Julian Ward and the rest of those tasked with bringing in the right calibre of player this summer are entering a critical juncture that will define the final years of the manager's time at Anfield.
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