General View inside the Stadium of a Liverpool Corner Flag during the Liverpool v Real Madrid UEFA Champions League Round 1 League Stage match at Anfield, Liverpool, England on 4 November 2025 Credit: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media
General View inside the Stadium of a Liverpool Corner Flag during the Liverpool v Real Madrid UEFA Champions League Round 1 League Stage match at Anfield, Liverpool, England on 4 November 2025 Credit: Lee Keuneke/Every Second Media
Liverpool supporters have been handed an encouraging fitness update on one of the club’s most exciting attackers, with the forward now back in training after more than two months on the sidelines following surgery on a dislocated shoulder.
The news arrives on a big day at Anfield, where Andoni Iraola’s side host Arsenal at 4.30pm sitting fourth in the Premier League on 15 points, six behind the champions, who have not won a league match on Merseyside since September 2012.
While Iraola’s focus is firmly on the visit of Mikel Arteta’s side, the club’s longer term plans have received a welcome lift, and the attacker in question is one the head coach already knows well after taking him on the summer tour of the United States.
16 year old winger Josh Abe has been with Liverpool since the age of four, and Under 18 head coach Simon Wiles, speaking to journalist Dan Clubbe, confirmed he has been integrated back into training, adding that he had seen him out on the pitch and expects him to be getting game time and building back to full speed before long.
“He’s been integrated back into training.”
“That’s where he’s at now.”
”I briefly saw him out on the training pitch yesterday, so it’s good to see that he’s getting closer.”
”Hopefully, he won’t be too far away from getting some game time and building himself back up to full speed.”
Abe went under the knife at the end of August at The Arm Clinic in Wilmslow to fix a long standing problem with his right shoulder, which had been repeatedly popping out of its socket, and The Athletic reported at the time that he faced around three months out, which puts a competitive return roughly on schedule for late November.
The setback came at a frustrating moment, because the left footed attacker had just enjoyed a breakthrough summer, training with the first team under Iraola in July, starting the friendly against Wrexham in New York and playing 45 minutes against Sunderland in Nashville, before scoring on his Under 21 debut against Huddersfield Town on 8 August.
His numbers at youth level explain the excitement around him, with nine goals for the Under 18s last season while still an Under 16 player, including a hat trick and an assist in a victory by six goals to one over Leeds United in February, and that same month he became Liverpool’s youngest ever player in the UEFA Youth League when he faced MSK Zilina aged 15.
That form drew interest from Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid, but Abe chose to sign scholarship terms at Liverpool this summer, with a three year professional contract lined up for when he turns 17 in July 2027, and he has since been named in The Guardian’s Next Generation list for 2026.
This is his second injury of the year, after his previous campaign was cut short by a leg problem picked up on international duty with England, so Liverpool are likely to manage the final stages of his rehabilitation carefully.
The Under 18s host Ipswich Town in the Premier League Cup on Saturday, and although that may come slightly too soon, his return to the training pitch means the wait to see him back in competitive action should not be a long one.
🗣️ Liverpool U18s boss Simon Wiles spoke to @dan_clubbe about Josh Abe’s return from injury after surgery on a dislocated shoulder
💪 “He’s been integrated back into training.
🔜 “That’s where he’s at now. I briefly saw him out on the training pitch yesterday, so it’s good to… pic.twitter.com/lFm64eWzzy
— The Redmen TV (@TheRedmenTV) October 31, 2026
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