Bobby Clark sale to RB Salzburg joins Fabio Carvalho in puzzling new development

This summer window continues to be a befuddling one for Liverpool Football Club. There is still no new summer arrival and the Reds continue to shop and move a lot of their young talent.

The latest to have a confirmed departure is promising center midfielder Bobby Clark. On Wednesday, a deal was agreed with Austrian side RB Salzburg in the range of £10 million for his services. In addition, there will be a 17.5% sell-on clause built into the deal as well.

This move comes somewhat from nowhere as Clark was a key figure in "Klopp's Kids" success last term.

Is a trend developing?

Clark's sale comes on the heel of another bright young talent, Fabio Carvalho, making a £27.5 million move to Brentford.

Carvalho had a brilliant preseason under Arne Slot and it was still not enough to convince the club to keep him around. As for Clark, he had recovered from a back injury that ended his 2023/24 season early.

His chances in the friendlies were not as plentiful though. It's interesting that Slot did not immediately take to the 19-year old midfielder.

His advanced composure on the ball and wide-ranging passing ability would lend themselves to being perfect fits for the style that the Dutchman wants to play.

Clark is worth more than the agreed fee

Is this Slot coming in to a new club and trying to stamp his own identity? It's hard to tell because £10m is not a number that truly moves the needle at Anfield.

At 19, his ceiling is very high and he still had so much room to grow projecting ahead. He plays with a maturity that belies his years and a loan, even a two-year one, would have been a better bet. Not putting a buyback clause in the deal is also questionable.

I rated Clark as one of the 5 best players at the club under the age of 21 and I think this is a big blow to the long-term health of the midfield.

Obviously, he would have been 5th choice at best this season, but another year of seasoning in the elite surroundings of Liverpool would only have done great things for him.

It continues to look like the Reds do not have a set gameplan this summer and following another public rejection, this time from Martin Zubimendi, this move feels like a knee-jerk reaction to getting some kind of deal done for their own mental sanity.

Pep Lijnders knows the exact player he is getting at Salzburg and I have no doubt Clark should have every chance to shine in Austria.

Bobby Clark had a big role to play in the future of this club and this sale feels like it came with a short-sighted view and it will be interesting to see if this is the end of the Academy cleansing.