How Raheem Sterling kickstarted the demise of Jordon Ibe
Raheem Sterling ruined Jordan Ibe at Liverpool.
Now a free agent and being linked with the likes of Celtic, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, Ibe has fallen into mediocrity far sooner than any of us would have imagined.
He arrived in 2012, a fresh-faced 15 year-old from Wycombe Wanderers – the club he had risen through the academy ranks with from the age of 11.
Jordan Ibe made his Chairboys debut in a League Cup tie at Adams Park, aged just 15 years and 244 days – and would make 11 appearances before signing a contract with Liverpool in the December of 2011.
Ibe would play regularly and star in the reserve sides at Kirkby, and would be called up to his first match day squad against Southampton in March 2013 – but remained an unused substitute.
The final day of 2012/13, a 1-0 win against QPR, would herald his debut. It was a game which curtailed Jamie Carragher’s Liverpool career but began Ibe’s as he assisted Phillippe Coutinho in the only goal of the match.
Successive and successful loan spells with Birmingham City and Derby County saw Ibe recalled as the incumbent saviour of Liverpool’s disappointing 2014/15 campaign.
He would start against Everton – striking the inside of the post and being named man of the match as Liverpool played out a goalless draw and set up the winner as the Reds beat Tottenham just weeks later.
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Who scored it? Mario Balotelli.
Ibe signed a new contract at the twilight of the season, having helped Liverpool get a sixth placed finish.
The following campaign saw the dismissal of Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool boss, to be replaced by Jurgen Klopp. But before that, it saw the sale of Raheem Sterling to Manchester City for £49 million.
Ibe was heralded as the heir to Sterling, with the potential to go even further in his career. It could be said that Sterling’s sale helped to kill Jordon Ibe’s potential.
The media pressure and passing comments defining Ibe as potentially world class was simply not good for the youngster’s mentality. It was Liverpool fans’ way of comforting themselves after losing a player much closer to the world class mark – albeit Sterling was still raw at the time.
At first, Klopp’s arrival seemingly helped Ibe. He scored his first Liverpool goal in one of those arduous away trips in the Europa League, against Rubin Kazan. He would also score the winner against FC Sion in snowy Switzerland.
His first Premier League goal came in the very last game he would play for the Reds. A 1-1 draw at West Bromwich Albion.
Next. The five most legendary right-backs to wear the Liver Bird. dark
Who knows what Ibe could’ve been without media pressure, and the mental flack he took for indirectly replacing Raheem Sterling?