Sad to see all his injury problems, Matip is an excellent player when fit. But he can't be relied long-term, he should be considered 4th choice CB when everyone is back. He can still play enough games and give VVD, Gomez and a "new player" a breather.
I'm not even sure about that, to be honest. There is zero point in having a back up player who is always injured because inevitably when the time comes that you actually need them (because your first choice players are injured or need resting), inevitably they are not available. It's happened numerous times to us over the past few years not just this season, and it's why you cannot count on certain players as "depth".
Matip has missed over 65% of our games in the past season and a half either through injury or being unfit, and that statistic is unlikely to get better as he enters his 30s. Having him on the books means you can't have a (ideally consistently fit) lad in his place.
The CB position is a bit of an unknown at the moment, and difficult to plan for. Could be the case that both Gomez and VVD return in the summer like they were never away, and go back to starting 90% of games together which means a 4th choice CB for us can just be Fabinho, no issues. However maybe the injuries are worse than feared, or one suffers a set back, or one (or both) find themselves increasingly injury prone when they return as they try to compensate and recover from devastating knee injuries (see Ox). I mean take the names out of the equation, and if any other club were going into a season with a pool of CBs comprised of two players returning from long-term knee injuries, one player who is rarely fit and one new signing potentially new to the league, I daresay a lot on here would be labeling it daft.
Honestly I'd be looking to move on all the players in the squad who are fundamentally incapable of staying fit, even though that list includes some of my favourites. Klopp likes a small squad, and the football calendar isn't going to magically become less demanding - it's pretty imperative that the players you do have on the books are capable of actually getting on the pitch from time to time. Which is a shame, because Matip genuinely is one of the best CBs in the league.