Liverpool's Cody Gakpo withdraws from Netherlands squad

Oranje will begin their bid to qualify for Euro 2024 with a heavyweight tie against France on Friday in Group B before taking on Gibraltar three days later.

As expected, Gakpo was called up to Ronald Koeman's squad for their first games since the 2022 World Cup, having starred in Qatar with goals in all three of the Netherlands' group games.

However, the Dutch Football Federation has now announced that the 23-year-old is one of a quintet of players to have come down with an illness, and he has pulled out of March's fixtures as a result.

As well as the Liverpool man, Matthijs de Ligt, Joey Veerman, Sven Botman and Bart Verbruggen - who is said to be admired by Liverpool - have also succumbed to a virus and will play no part in their upcoming qualifiers.

Koeman has brought in a trio of new players in Stefan de Vrij, Kjell Scherpen and Ryan Gravenberch to negate the effects of the disease, but the Dutch boss has seemingly elected not to call upon a replacement for Gakpo.

The former PSV Eindhoven man has recorded six goals and two assists in 14 games for the Netherlands since making his debut, which came off the bench against North Macedonia at Euro 2020.

Gakpo struggled to hit the ground running at Liverpool, but he has struck a respectable four goals in nine Premier League games, including a brace in their 7-0 demolition of Manchester United earlier this month.

While the attacker will likely recover from his affliction in time for the return of domestic football, Jurgen Klopp could do without any added selection headaches, especially with Darwin Nunez also withdrawing from the Uruguay squad with a knock.

The Reds were recently dealt a devastating blow with midfield protege Stefan Bajcetic, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to an adductor problem.

Bajcetic is not the only teenager out for the long-term, as right-back Calvin Ramsay will also miss the remainder of the campaign after undergoing surgery on a knee injury.

The luckless Thiago Alcantara has also been dealing with a hip problem for the past month and a half, while Luis Diaz was not quite ready to return from knee surgery before the international break.

However, both Thiago and Diaz could make imminent returns next month as they step up their recoveries during the international window, while Joe Gomez's knock should not keep him out for much longer either.

Liverpool occupy sixth place in the Premier League table - seven points off the top four with two games in hand on Tottenham Hotspur - and their first game back following the international break sees them tackle champions Manchester City at the Etihad on April 1.