Oxford thank Klopp for his Woodburn ‘trust’

WREXHAM, WALES - MARCH 20: Ben Woodburn of Wales looks on during the International Friendly match between Wales and Trinidad and Tobago at Racecourse Ground on March 20, 2019 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
WREXHAM, WALES - MARCH 20: Ben Woodburn of Wales looks on during the International Friendly match between Wales and Trinidad and Tobago at Racecourse Ground on March 20, 2019 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Liverpool starlet Ben Woodburn has completed a loan move to Oxford United and the club has thanked Jurgen Klopp for the opportunity.

The Reds have sanctioned the season-long deal with League One United and their boss Karl Robinson is delighted to have a player of Woodburn’s ability in his squad, wrote the Evening Standard.

It’s interesting that the 19-year-old has ended in the third tier of English football, a place many of us didn’t expect to see him, but that should mean Woodburn plays a lot of football and kick starts his development.

The Wales international has featured more times for his country than he has for club over the past campaign and that needs to change. Robinson is very happy to have the forward in his squad, so hopefully he’ll use him.

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“We’d like to extend our thanks to Jurgen Klopp, Julian and Ben’s agent for trusting us,” the former MK Dons gaffer said. But now that trust needs to be repaid.

Lip service at the start of a deal is all well and good and it’s exactly what Sheffield United said before Woodburn moved there last season. That never materialised and the Welshman lost another year of his development.

“We are absolutely delighted to bring in a player of his quality,” continued the Oxford manager, who also said that the team was looking forward to seeing how Woodburn improves under his watch.

All eyes will be on both parties to see if they deliver. The forward needs to play well and have an impact in the final third, but Robinson has to allow the youngster time to acclimatise to first team football.

If they both deliver, it could be the campaign that makes Woodburn. If not, is it too late to resurrect his Liverpool career that promised so much early on?

Oxford take on Sunderland on Saturday in the first game of the League One season and we’ll see if Klopp’s trust starts to get repaid.