Saka apologises after Tsimikas broken collar bone reveal – ‘I didn’t mean it of course’ | OneFootball

Bukayo Saka and Kostas Tsimikas make up during Arsenal v Liverpool

Bukayo Saka has apologised to Kostas Tsimikas and said he “didn’t mean it” after a coming together between the pair resulted in the Liverpool man breaking his collar bone.

The Reds are in a bit of a crisis at left-back now. Andy Robertson has been sidelined since early October, with an injury to his shoulder keeping him out of action.

Now, his understudy, Tsimikas, has been ruled out with a broken collar bone. It occurred after a coming together with Arsenal winger Saka in the 1-1 draw between the two sides.

Both men were attempting to win possession of the ball, and Saka slipped when shoulder to shoulder with Tsimikas, knocking him out of play, where he collided with manager Jurgen Klopp, who revealed after the game that his defender had broken his collar bone.

Saka has issued an apology to his counterpart, stating he didn’t mean to injure him – which was already clear after the incident – and explained he was attempting to continue down the line with the ball.

“I heard he has gone to hospital so obviously I want to apologise to him. I didn’t mean it of course,” Saka said on Sky Sports.

“For me it was a 50/50 and I have gone shoulder to shoulder with him. I didn’t see it but he must have taken a bad fall, I didn’t see him go into Jurgen Klopp either. I was focused on running forward because I didn’t think it was a foul. That’s my take on it.”

Liverpool boss Klopp did not think that collision was a massive issue at the time, having been involved, and stated he’d have happily taken the injury himself if it meant his player remained fit.

“I thought it wasn’t really a problem because I had no pain. I would happily give my collarbone and he would be fit again,” Klopp said.

“I was completely fine in that moment. I thought Kostas was as well but he said ‘no it’s broken’.

“Of course that’s not cool directly in front of you when you are kind of involved. I wasn’t sure if I fell on him or how it happened.”