Liverpool won’t rush decision on ‘exciting’ midfielder as Reds set their price – The Athletic
Even with just over three weeks remaining in the summer transfer window, Liverpool are seemingly in no hurry to make a call on the future of one gifted youngster at Anfield.
The Reds have already knocked back a £6m offer from Red Bull Salzburg for Bobby Clark, who’s also on the wanted list at Rangers, Norwich and Leeds (DAVEOCKOP).
On Tuesday morning, The Athletic‘s Andy Jones reported that LFC chiefs are ‘in no rush’ to decide on the 19-year-old’s immediate future, with the teenager valued at £12m, twice the amount that Pep Lijnders’ side bid for him.
A loan move to the Championship, where there are several clubs showing an interest in him, is deemed ‘likelier’ for the midfielder.
Along with Fabio Carvalho, Sepp van den Berg and Ben Doak, Clark is a player who presents something of a dilemma for the Liverpool hierarchy this month.
The 19-year-old has looked very impressive during his 14 first-team appearances for the Reds thus far, living up to his billing from Chronicle Live reporter Lee Ryder as a ‘really exciting’ young talent with ‘bags of skill’ (Liverpool Echo).
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An ongoing back injury deprived him of the opportunity to strike an early impression on Arne Slot in the manner that some of his fellow youngsters have done during the pre-season tour to the USA; and with reports from David Ornstein this morning that LFC are ‘pursuing a specialist No 6 from outside of the Premier League’, the teenager’s prospects of Anfield game-time could be lessened further.
In our view, we’d much rather see Clark being loaned out this term than sold altogether, as we firmly believe that there’s a tremendous player in there who’s just waiting to be properly unleashed once he’s given the right platform on which to do so.
Harvey Elliott hasn’t looked back since his loan spell in the Championship with Blackburn in 2020/21, while Carvalho and Tyler Morton excelled at Hull last season, so a temporary move to the English second tier can work wonders for youngsters seeking a lasting breakthrough at Liverpool.
We imagine that the 19-year-old will eventually depart before the end of the month, and we just hope that it’s to a club (and a manager) who’ll appreciate his talents and give him the regular game-time that he needs as the next stage of his development.
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