Jurgen Klopp insists both Takumi Minamino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain still have a future at Liverpool.
Minamino moved to Anfield in January 2020 and made 14 appearances in his first half-season at the club.
After failing to break into the first team on a regular basis this term, the Japan international was loaned to Southampton in January.
Minamino’s parent club beat his current one on Saturday, with Liverpool running out 2-0 winners to remain in the race for the top four.
Despite sending him to St Mary’s earlier this year, Klopp believes the attacking midfielder’s long-term future is at Liverpool.
"He’s done really well there and this is no surprise,” Klopp wrote in Liverpool’s official matchday programme for the Southampton match.
"When we allowed him to go in January it was a tough call to make because he is an important player for us and will be again in the future, no doubt.
"But opportunities at that time had been short with us and therefore going to play somewhere else made sense for him and us.
"Southampton was perfect because of how Ralph [Hasenhuttl] plays and what he demands from his players."
The Liverpool boss also addressed the situation of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has been linked with a move away from the club this summer.
The midfielder has made just two Premier League starts for the defending champions this season.
“The summer is important for all of us, and for Ox it’s exactly the same,” he told reporters.
“When you don’t start games, then you have to use each training session and each minute on the pitch in a game to convince. I don’t have to be convinced, to be honest, but it’s about showing up in these kind of situations.
“Oxlade had really good moments. He trains really well. These situations are not easy; for Naby [Keita] it is not easy, for Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri] it is not easy, for some other players as well. I know that.
“But during the season, a lot of things happened. The one thing we tried to get, and when we got it we tried to keep it, was balance and rhythm, stability. That means that you don’t change these positions too often. That’s it, pretty much.
“With always having a different defence, the midfield needed to be different to other times, when we were much more settled, much more stable. That’s the reason why some players don’t have enough minutes.
“That will hopefully change completely next season because if you have that stability in the last line, then you can be more flexible in the formation, further up the pitch.”
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