Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he has absolutely no reason to loan out young forward Ben Woodburn.
Woodburn has returned from an unsuccessful spell with Sheffield United, and now the German doesn’t think he’ll be sent away from Anfield again.
The Welsh international only made seven Championship appearances for the Blades, clocking up a meager 154 minutes of action across half a season.
There was initial excitement when Woodburn joined United, with the Sheffield club beating off a host of other teams in order to land the youngster.
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He even headed back to Liverpool to take part in an U23’s game in order to boost his match fitness – but now the relationship has been terminated.
Harry Wilson has shown the benefits of a successful spell away from Merseyside, and it was hoped Woodburn would be able to match that. But the attacker is still only 19-years-old and has plenty of time left to develop.
And when Klopp was asked if they would seek another deal for the Wales star, he wasn’t optimistic of a repeat.
The German indicated that there were a few sides interested in loaning Woodburn, but that he believed that the youngster wouldn’t get the necessary game time.
Klopp spoke about the pressures put on younger players to succeed straight away – and maybe that’s something that happened with Woodburn. But he also highlighted how important it is that they play when they’re on loan – because sitting on the bench and fighting for a place is what happens at Anfield.
Woodburn looked to have the world at his feet when he became the club’s youngest ever goalscorer, but the winger has since struggled for game time and this loan move was supposed to fix that.
But as previously mentioned, he’s still young and has plenty of time to improve. As Klopp said, keep the pressure off.